 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: starrd26
Date: 2015-01-02 02:54
hello,
I am looking for ultramodern chamber music for either "clarinet and voice", "clarinet, voice and piano" or "clarinet, voice, other instrument" (or even a group of four instruments containing clarinet/voice). I have come across Johanna Beyer's Ballad of the Star-Eater (soprano and clarinet - 1934) and Three Songs for Soprano and Clarinet (soprano and clarinet - 1934). I am trying to find music similar to this by any of the ultramodern composers (Seeger, Crawford, Cowell, Ruggles, etc) but am not finding much. Any ideas from anyone on repertoire like this that employs dissonant counterpoint? Thank you!
Devin
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2015-01-02 03:32
Milton Babbitt, Quatrains for 2 clarinets and soprano;
Ned Rorem, Ariel for clarinet, voice and piano;
Anton Webern, 5 Canons, op 16 for clarinet, bass clarinet and voice;
Igor Stravinsky, Elegy for J.F.K. for 2 clarinets, alto clarinet and voice;
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-01-02 22:41
An accomplished clarinetist and nice guy, Dr. Gary Dranch is big on premiering new stuff for clarinet.
Perhaps you should check out his website.
http://www.drdranchclarinetist.com/index.php
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2015-01-03 01:42
My wife is a soprano so I am always on the lookout for works for soprano and clarinet. Here are a few works, in addition to those already mentioned, that I have come across that might fit your bill:
Mark Hijleh, Faith (some nontraditional notation) (Soprano, Clarinet)
Lori Laitman, I Never Saw Another Butterfly (Soprano, Clarinet)
Barbara Harbach, Pioneer Women (Soprano, Clarinet, Piano)
Jack Gottlieb, Downtown Blues for Uptown Halls (Female Voice, Clarinet, Piaon -- there are two versions "low voice" and "high voice." The "high voice" version appears to be out-of-print but the low voice version is within my wife's range)
Dominic Argento, To Be Sung upon the Water (Soprano, Clarinet, Piano)
Seymour Barab, Bits and Pieces (Soprano, Clarinet, Piano)
Robert Starer, The Ideal Self (Soprano, Clarinet, Piano)
The Barab and Starer are from an old recording by the Ariel Ensemble. I found the Barab pretty easily at Sheet Music Plus but it's listed as "usually leaves our warehouse in 2 to 3 weeks" so I don't know it it's really available or not. It is not listed at Luyben Music or Gary Van Cott's site so I am skeptical.
Browse through Potenza Music's website. Look particularly at the works by Lori Ardovino. Also definitely worth a look is Classical Vocal Reprints:
http://www.classicalvocalrep.com
Search the site for "soprano clarinet" without the quotes for a large list, including a number of contemporary pieces as well as reprints of some works that have gone out-of-print. If you see something that looks interesting, you may be able to find a recording on YouTube, Spotify, or the Naxos Music Library.
Also take a look at music for clarinet and voice at LuybenMusic, Van Cott Information Services, Jeanne, and Eble Music:
http://luybenmusic.com/category.asp?section=&category=MUSIC+for+CLARINET+and+VOICE
http://vcisinc.com/
http://www.jeanne-inc.com/CTGY-CL.html
https://www.eble.com/store/
Finally, you can find some modern works at IMSLP. Whether any of them are worth performing is up to you.
A couple of works that are probably outside the scope of your original request but I will mention them:
Jaren Hinckley, The Shepherd on the Rocks (Soprano, Clarinet, Piano - inspired by the Schubert work, particularly modern in style but great fun for both audience and performers -- performance on YouTube)
Vaughan Williams, 3 Vocalises (Perhaps you know this one. Definitely worth a listen if you don't.)
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2015-01-03 01:44)
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2015-01-04 01:29
Wouldn't an "ultramodern" composer still be alive?
One vote for Moravec's Tempest Fantasy.
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Author: starrd26
Date: 2015-01-04 09:01
thanks Dave - appreciate the input! I contacted Gary and he helped me out.
thank you Jack for your input as well - and for the lengthy list of pieces! This is is all so helpful...
rmk54, the majority (if not all) of the original/prominent ultramodern composers such as Cowell, Seeger, Crawford, etc, are dead...but I'm sure there are living composers specializing in ultramodern works, though I am not as familiar with them. But thank you for the piece!
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2015-01-04 16:49
Sorry, but if they are dead (assuming they did not die prematurely) then there is no way they can be ultramodern *today*. Perhaps you really mean serial or aleatoric or expressionist.
I don't think Ruth Crawford Seeger's music would in any way be considered ultramodern, even in her day. And Ned Rorem is the antithesis of ultramodern.
(Not to be considered a criticism - I do enjoy their music)
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Author: starrd26
Date: 2015-01-05 08:55
I understand Rorem isn't ultramodernist, I did not list him. RCS is said to have had an ultra-modern voice, and was certainly very caught up in writing works involving dissonant counterpoint.
And indeed, ultramodern music was VERY much a thing in the 1920s and 30s (and even beyond). Many people that are dead now were ultramodernists. I would recommend going to Grove Music Online to look up more on this for composers. For example, a section on Henry Cowell (1897-1965) as quoted in the The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd edition, says "Then he began his international career as a crusader for ultramodernism...Cowell’s increasing interest in world music seems to contradict his ultramodernism, but was a symptom of his resistance to following a single style, and his sense that Western musical complexity had reached its limit...Until the 1930s, Cowell was best known for his ultramodern works, the innovations of which constituted a compendium of contemporary possibilities..." etc.
Hope this helps.
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2015-01-05 16:48
Got it.
I misunderstood your "ultra-modern" for a generic term.
Check out the Ives Trio, although no vocal component.
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