Vienna Calling – Sonata and Miniatures for Clarinet and Piano. Anthony Pike, clarinet; John Lenehan, piano
Some years ago (2001) I recorded a CD of Reger’s Complete Works for Clarinet and Piano for Clarinet and Saxophone Classics. The idea then was to imagine which directions Brahms might have taken had he lived into the Twentieth century. The duo writing of Reger fitted this bill uncannily. Since then I have had a chance to explore more twentieth century compositions involving the clarinet with the same ‘What if?’ Brahmsian conceit. This recording is the result.
The recording aims to expose the debt of gratitude which clarinettists owe to the city of Vienna. Building on the historical legacy of Mozart and Schubert, Brahms represents the earliest of the featured composers with his two late masterpieces Op. 120 1/2. 1897, the year of Brahms’s death, was the same year in which the iconic Vienna Ferris Wheel was completed providing a link into the twentieth century and Alban Berg’s 1913 Vier Stücke Op. 5.
Also a pupil of Schoenberg, Egon Wellesz had a first public performance of his work (String Quartet Op. 1) in 1913, the same year as Berg’s Op. 5. Wellesz was well connected in liberal Viennese circles, and later related to friends in Oxford that he had sat on Brahms’s knee. The Ernst Krenek was visiting the United States and like Wellesz who was also abroad but in Amsterdam, survived the Anschluss which turned Vienna upside down in 1938.
The connections between these composers and the city of Vienna are powerful. Brahms influenced early Schoenberg, who in turn had a huge compositional effect on Berg, Wellesz and Krenek. The Ferris Wheel would have been a sight all of them, bar Brahms, would have been familiar with. Even Brahms himself may have heard the rumble of construction vehicles pointing to a new, modern Vienna
Programme
- Ernst Krenek KLEINE SUITE, OP. 28
- Johannes Brahms SONATA IN F MINOR OP.120 NO. 1 & SONATA IN EB OP.120 NO.2
- Alban Berg VIER STÜCKE, OP. 5
- Egon Wellesz SUITE, OP. 74 (solo clarinet)
- Egon Wellesz ZWEI STÜCKE, OP. 34
- Ernst Krenek (sol MONOLOGUE, OP. 157 (solo clarinet)
- Ernst Krenek RHAPSODY, OP. 85A(F)
Anthony Pike clarinet, John Lenehan piano
The connections between these composers and the city of Vienna are powerful. Brahms influenced early Schoenberg, who in turn had a huge compositional effect on Berg, Wellesz and Krenek. The Ferris Wheel would have been a sight all of them, bar Brahms, would have been familiar with. Even Brahms himself may have heard the rumble of construction vehicles pointing to a new, modern Vienna.
Recorded by this extraordinarily creative and successful partnership spanning over forty years.
Playing Time: 79 mins.
Download Free Promotional Sheet
CC0077
