Programme

Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)Dance Preludes for Clarinet and Piano

I Allegro moltoII AndantinoIII Allegro giocosoIV Andante V Allegro molto

Luciano Berio (1925 – 2003)Lied for Solo Clarinet

Hans-Åke Gäfvert (1914 - 1956)Andantino from Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano

Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)Sonata in E Flat Major for Clarinet and Piano,Op. 120, No. 2

I Allegro amabileII Allegro appassionatoIII Andante con moto; Allegro

Interval

Joseph Horovitz (b. 1926)Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano

I Allegro calmatoII Lento quasi andanteIII Con brio

Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990)Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

I GraziozoII Andantino

Béla Kovács (b. 1937)After You, Mr. Gershwin! For Clarinet and Piano

Kjell AspClarinet

Karen KingsleyPiano

Witold LutoslawskiDance Preludes for Clarinet and Piano

Allegro molto – Andantino – Allegro giocoso – Andante – Allegro molto

In Poland, the years following World War II, Lutoslawski found himself subjected to a repression of artistic freedom. In order to make a living, Lutoslawski had to write functional music for the state radio, recording and publishing companies, much of it drawing on the rich heritage of Polish folk music. As the cultural climate changed in the mid-1950s he was able to explore publicly through the avant-garde style that he had already been working on, but not before saying farewell to this folklore style with the set of five Preludia taneczne (Dance Preludes) based on songs from northern Poland. Originally written for clarinet and piano in 1954, he arranged them a year later for clarinet, harp, piano, percussion and strings, and again in 1959 for a nonet of woodwind and strings. The public première came with the 1963 Aldeburgh Festival, given by Gervase de Peyer, the English Chamber Orchestra and Benjamin Britten. Although the five short pieces are based on folk songs, the original folk material has been so seamlessly interwoven as to make any precise identification impossible. The three fast movements are rhythmically interesting and the two slow ones are reminiscent of Bartók’s night music pieces.

Luciano BerioLied for Solo Clarinet

The Italian Composer Luciano Berio is well known for his experimental compositions, particularly his experimentation with electronic music, which was developed during his time at the Studio di Fonolgia in Milan. Thema (Omaggia a Joyce) from 1958, one of his most influential works, was based on a reading from James Joyce’s Ulysses for mezzo-soprano and tape, where he altered the speed at which the tape played, added distortions, echo and stuttering. Berio is also praised for his production of works for solo instruments, titled Sequence, which he wrote between 1958 and 2002. Lied was written in 1983 as a birthday present for his nephew, Edoardo Debenedetti, a clarinet student at the time. The piece was first premiered 1983 by Steven Kanoff in Geneva, but before that it was actually recorded by the British clarinetist Tony Pay, on a small tape recorder in a classroom at the music school in Fiesole, Italy, where both Pay and Berio worked at the time with the Orchestra Regionale Toscana. Lied features smooth and lyrical melodic phrases, which are punctuated by shorter and longer chains of staccato tone repetitions, like a dialog between good and evil, light and dark or between two emotion. The flexible tempo, absence of bar lines and subtly changing dynamics suggest spontaneity, andBerio asks the performer to play the piece “sempre molto flessibile, come improvvisando.”

Hans-Åke GäfvertAndantino from Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano

In December 1945, the young Swedish composer and musician Hans-Åke Gäfvert received a contribution of 500 SEK (£50) from the organisation SKAP, Swedish Composers of Popular Music, to record his Rapsodi Miniatyr, a symphonic jazz style piece in Gershwin style. The piece was considered to be very experimental at the time, but was well received and contributed to the acceptance of Jazz in the community of popular music composers. A few years earlier Gäfvert wrote Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano, his only classical composition. Although he is commonly known as Composer of popular music, Pianist and Conductor, he studied clarinet at Royal Swedish Academy of Music and was a skilled classical performer. The Andantino from the Fantasy is a slow, lyrical movement where the broad melodic lines can be played very freely.

Johannes BrahmsSonata in E Flat Major for Clarinet and Piano,Op. 120, No. 2

Allegro amabile - Allegro appassionato - Andante con moto; Allegro

In December 1890, when Brahms sent his publisher an alteration to the finale of the Quintet in G major, Op. 111, he included the instruction: “With this note you can take leave of my music, because it is high time to stop.” The following spring he wrote out his will and decided to concentrate only on unpublished works he deemed worthwhile. However, the following year he heard Richard Mühlfeld playing clarinet in the Meiningen Court Orchestra, which Mühlfeld had joined as a violinist in 1873 before becoming first clarinetist three year later. Brahms was so moved by Mühlfeld’s playing that he wrote the Trio (Op. 114) and Quintet (Op. 115) during the summer of 1891; both works were premiered by Mühlfeld in Berlin in December, 1891. In the summer of 1894, Brahms wrote the two Sonatas (both Op. 120), which were premiered in Vienna in January 1895 by Mühlfeld, with Brahms playing the piano part. Brahms and Mühlfeld performed the sonatas many times; in fact, Brahms enjoyed performing with Mühlfeld so much that he actually gave Mühlfeld the original manuscripts of the sonatas and the performance rights fees for the two works. The Second Sonata in E Flat is a work in three movements rather than the four of the First Sonata. The first movement, Allegro amabile contains three principal themes worked out by the two players who are equal partners in the discourse. The second movement, Allegro appassionato, is in scale and mood an intermezzo in the style of the late piano works: an animated folksong-like theme in 3/4 time followed by a trio section, with a return to the opening theme. The third movement, Andante con moto; Allegro, is a set of six variations on yet another folksong-like theme.

Joseph HorovitzSonatina for clarinet and piano

Allegro calmato – Lento quasi andante – Con brio

The Sonatina was composed between January and April 1981, at the request of Gervase de Peyer (b. 1926) whom Horovitz first met at Royal College of Music in London during 1948, where the both studied at the time. Their long friendship has resulted in several compositions by Horovitz, including Concertante for clarinet and strings, Two Majorcan piece , Concerto for clarinet and string orchestra and Diversions on a Familiar Theme. The Sonatina is a witty composition full of humorous and jazzy qualities; still it follows a traditional pattern of the three movements division. The first movement, Allegro calmato, exploits the clarinet’s middle and upper registers. The central Lento has a long graceful melody and concentrates on the middle and low registers, while the Con Brio, like a Rondo Finale, altering two themes in all registers. The influence of Jazz is most obvious in this movement.

Leonard BernsteinSonata for Clarinet and Piano

Graziozo – Andantino

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano was composed between September 1941 and Februari 1942. The piece was dedicated to the clarinetist David Oppenheim, a personal friend to Bernstein whom he met in 1941 at Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer institute, Tanglewood, in Massachusetts. The piece was premiered by David Glazer & Bernstein in Boston21 April 1942, and the following year recorded by Oppenheim and Bernstein. The Sonata for Clarinet and Piano is divided into two movements. The first is a lyrical grazioso which foreshadows Bernstein’s work in West Side Story. The Andantino, with its walking basses and syncopations is an exciting mix of jazz and dance. This movement is predominantly in the slightly odd 5/8 time signature, but also changes between 3/8, 4/8 & 7/8 throughout the piece. Since Bernstein’s death, several alternative arrangements of the Sonata have appeared, including a concerto arrangement by Sid Ramin (the orchestrator of West Side Story) and a transcription for cello by Yo-Yo Ma. Although The Sonata for Clarinet and Piano was Bernstein’s first published composition, chamber music had previously figured into Bernstein’s compositional output. In 1937 he had written Music for Two Pianos, and the following year he completed a piano sonata. In 1940, Bernstein composed his Sonata for Violin and Piano, the most important forerunner to the clarinet sonata.

Bela KovacsAfter You, Mr. Gershwin! for clarinet and piano

Béla Kovács was born 1937 in Hungary. In 1956 he became a member of the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, in 1961 he was a founder of the Hungarian Wind Quintet, and in 1971 he was appointed a professor at the Liszt Academy. His most widely known compositions are his tributes to composers of the past, for example Homage to JS Bach, Salute Signore Rossini and the Klezmer piece Sholem-alekhem, rov Feidman! After You, Mr. Gershwin! is a light piece in the style of George Gershwin. The clarinet’s opening end with a nod in the direction of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the slower music has similarities with the bluesy moments in the Piano Concerto, and the piece ends in the style of An American in Paris.

Kjell Asp began his musical career at the age of 9, studying clarinet in his hometown Gävle in the north of Sweden. He worked his way through the local music school wind band, the Swedish National Youth Wind Band and finally the Swedish Royal Army Band in 1982 at the age of 20. He then closed his clarinet case to start a career in electronic engineering. It remained closed until 2002, when a local wind band needed a clarinet player and he started playing again. In 2009 he completed a BA in Chamber Music at Örebro Music College in Sweden and is currently working towards a Master of Music degree at the University of Southampton, studying clarinet under Ian Peters.

Karen Kingsleystudied with Jean Harvey at the Royal Academy of Music, gaining prizes and commendations for solo and ensemble performances. She is a regular concerto soloist, her repertoire including works by Beethoven, Chopin, Gerhardt, Gershwin, Grieg, Mozart, Poulenc, Rachmaninov, Rubinstein, and Shostakovich. She is a member of the Monington Duo with clarinettist Robert Blanken, their repertoire numbering over 170 works, several of which have been composed specially for them.