Clarinet concerto

Last updated
Score of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with basset clarinet (F. Arthur Uebel) KV 622 basset cl.jpg
Score of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with basset clarinet (F. Arthur Uebel)

A clarinet concerto is a concerto for clarinet; that is, a musical composition for solo clarinet together with a large ensemble (such as an orchestra or concert band). Albert Rice has identified a work by Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli as possibly the earliest known concerto for solo clarinet; its score appears to be titled "Concerto per il Clareto" and may date from 1733. It may, however, be intended for soprano chalumeau. [1] There are earlier concerti grossi with concertino clarinet parts including two by Johann Valentin Rathgeber, published in 1728. [2]

Contents

Famed publishing house Breitkopf & Härtel published the first clarinet concerto in 1772. The instrument's popularity soared and a flurry of early clarinet concertos ensued. [3] Many of these early concertos have largely been forgotten, though German clarinettist Dieter Klocker specialized in these "lost" works. [4] Famous clarinet concertos of the Classical and early Romantic era include those of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carl Maria von Weber and Louis Spohr.

Relatively few clarinet concertos, or wind instrument concertos generally, were produced during the middle and late Romantic music era, but the form became more popular in the twentieth century, with famous clarinet concertos from Carl Nielsen and Aaron Copland, as well as more recent ones by composers such as John Adams, Kalevi Aho, Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, Magnus Lindberg, Donald Martino, Christopher Rouse, and John Williams.

Baroque period

The modern clarinet did not exist before about 1700. There are, however, a number of concertos written for its antecedent, the chalumeau.

The discovery of six clarinet concertos by Johann Melchior Molter (1696–1765) — the first of which may date from 1743 [5] — and three concerti grossi for clarinet and oboe written by Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) as far back as 1711 [6] have led music historians to revise the common view that the first concerto for the instrument was written by Johann Stamitz around 1755.[ citation needed ]

Classical period

Other concertos from the Classical era include those by Deshayes, Fuchs, Jan Kalous, Joseph Lacher, Lang, Philipp Meissner, Pfeilsticker, J.B. Wanhal, Wenzel Pichel, Johan Stich, and J.C. Stumpf. [3]

Romantic period

20th/21st century

See also

Notes

  1. Rice, Albert R. (1992). The Baroque Clarinet. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 99–101.
  2. Rice, Albert R. (1992). The Baroque Clarinet. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 93–94.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hoeprich, Erich (2008). The clarinet. Yale University Press. p. 81 & 82. ISBN   978-0-300-10282-6.
  4. "Dieter Klocker Discography".
  5. Goodman, Jonathan Michael (2011). The Clarinet Concerti that Inspired the Composition of the Six Clarinet Concerti of Johann Melchior Molter (Thesis). Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
  6. Hoeprich, T. Eric (1983). "Finding a Clarinet for the Three Concertos by Vivaldi". Early Music. 11 (1): 61–64. doi:10.1093/earlyj/11.1.61. JSTOR   3137507.
  7. Juan José Molero Ramos (September 2019). "A Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in E-Flat Major by James Hook or Jean-Xavier Lefèvre: A Question Of Authorship". The Clarinet.
  8. 1 2 Hoeprich, Eric (2008). The Clarinet. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 135.
  9. "Basset Horn Concerto, Op.90 (Schneider, Georg Abraham)". IMSLP. Despite the title, the solo part does not use the notes below low written E characteristic of a basset horn; in modern terms these would be concertos for alto clarinet in F.
  10. Marina Frolava-Walker. "Rimsky-Korsakov: (1) Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov." Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy (accessed December 1, 2006), grovemusic.com Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine (subscription access).
  11. Anderson, Keith. Spohr: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 & 3/Potpourri, Op. 80 (CD). Naxos Records. 8.550688. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  12. "John Adams List of Works". Archived from the original on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2007.
  13. "The Official Leonard Bernstein Web Site: Music for Performance" . Retrieved 20 January 2007.
  14. Tirimo, F. (no date) Works - Clarinet Concerto (Lost Lanes, Shadow Groves). Available at: http://www.jamesfrancisbrown.com/works/work.asp?workid=306&order=catdate (Accessed: 13 October 2015)
  15. Antony Beaumont. "Busoni, Ferruccio." Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy (accessed December 1, 2006), grovemusic.com Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine (subscription access).
  16. "Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, John Corigliano". G. Schirmer, Inc. Retrieved 31 January 2007.
  17. "The saint and the shebeen". The Herald. 20 June 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-29. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  18. Tuthill, Burnet C (Spring 1962). "The Concertos for Clarinet". Journal of Research in Music Education. 10 (1): 47–58. doi:10.2307/3343911. JSTOR   3343911.
  19. "Oakland Symphony performs a clarinetist's 'Dream'". Inside Bay Area. 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  20. Giselher Schubert. "Hindemith, Paul." Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy (accessed December 1, 2006), grovemusic.com Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine (subscription access).
  21. "Clarinet Concerto—Thea Musgrave, Composer". Thea Musgrave web site. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2007.
  22. Tower, Joan (1988). "Concerto for Clarinet". G. Schirmer Inc. Retrieved January 21, 2016.

Related Research Articles

A concerto is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typical three(music)|movement]] structure, a slow movement preceded and followed by fast movements, became a standard from the early 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franz Danzi</span> German conductor and composer (1763–1826)

Franz Ignaz Danzi was a German cellist, composer and conductor, the son of the Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi (1730–1798) and brother of the noted singer Franzeska Danzi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basset horn</span> Wind instrument of the clarinet family

The basset horn is a member of the clarinet family of musical instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scordatura</span> Nonstandard tuning of a string instrument

Scordatura is a tuning of a string instrument that is different from the normal, standard tuning. It typically attempts to allow special effects or unusual chords or timbre, or to make certain passages easier to play. It is common to notate the finger position as if played in regular tuning, while the actual pitch resulting is altered. When all the strings are tuned by the same interval up or down, as in the case of the viola in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra, the part is transposed as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viola concerto</span>

A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Throughout music history, especially during the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras, viola was viewed mostly as an ensemble instrument. Though there were a few notable concertos written for the instrument in this time period, these instances were quite rare and the instrument continued to be ignored. However, during the 20th century, the instrument was revitalized thanks to the work of a number of violists and composers, which led to the commission and composition of many more viola concertos, expanding the repertoire significantly.

F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor.

A bassoon concerto is a concerto for bassoon accompanied by a musical ensemble, typically orchestra. Like bassoon sonatas, bassoon concerti were relatively uncommon until the twentieth century, although there are quite a few bassoon concerti from the Classical period. Some contemporary bassoon concerti are scored for solo bassoon and wind or string orchestras.

Concertino is the diminutive of concerto, thus literally a small or short concerto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonín Vranický</span> Czech violinist and composer

Antonín Vranický, Germanized as Anton Wranitzky, and also seen as Wranizky, was a Czech violinist and composer of the 18th century. He was the half brother of Pavel Vranický.

Johannes Paul Thilman was a German composer.

A double bass concerto is a notated musical composition, usually in three parts or movements, for a solo double bass accompanied by an orchestra. Bass concertos typically require an advanced level of technique, as they often use very high-register passages, harmonics, challenging scale and arpeggio lines and difficult bowing techniques. Music students typically play bass concerti with the orchestral part played by a pianist who reads from an orchestral reduction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Georg Heinrich Backofen</span>

Johann Georg Heinrich Backofen was a German clarinetist, composer, and painter.

An organ concerto is an orchestral piece of music in which a pipe organ soloist is accompanied by an an orchestra, although some works exist with the name "concerto" which are for organ alone.

A concert piece is a musical composition, in most cases in one movement, intended for performance in a concert. Usually it is written for one or more virtuoso instrumental soloists and orchestral or piano accompaniment.

The bassoon repertoire consists of pieces of music composed for bassoon as a principal instrument that may be performed with or without other instruments. Below is a non-exhaustive list of major works for the bassoon.

This article lists notable compositions within the viola repertoire. The list includes works in which the viola is a featured instrument. The list is ordered by composer surname.