26 April 2013, 10:30 pm
Johanniskirche
Bonhoefferstraße 10
Witten
Alberto Posadas Sombras (2010-12) for soprano, bass clarinet and string quartet (first performance)
Sarah Maria Sun, soprano
Carl Rosman, bass clarinet
Quatuor Diotima
15 April 2013, 7:30 pm
St Paul’s Hall
Huddersfield
Georges Aperghis Damespiel (2011) for bass clarinet (first performance in the UK)
Aaron Cassidy I, purples, spat blood, laugh of beautiful lips (2004-6) for voice
Chikako Morishita Skin, Gelatin, Soot (2013) for bass clarinet (first performance)
Rebecca Saunders Caerulean (2011) for bass clarinet
Michael Baldwin a tenuous/tentative step towards performative awkwardness/clumsiness (2013) for voice (first performance)
Gérard Grisey Anubis, Nout (1983) for contrabass clarinet
Vinko Globokar Voix instrumentalisée (1973) for bass clarinet without mouthpiece
Evan Johnson Ground (2010) for contrabass clarinet
Carl Rosman, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, voice
Georges Aperghis
Michael Baldwin
Aaron Cassidy
Evan Johnson
Chikako Morishita
University of Huddersfield
17 March 2013, 8 pm
Funkhaus am Wallrafplatz
Köln
Jarosław Płonka lightly touched/heavily pressed (2012-13) for cello and ensemble (first performance)
Robin Hoffmann An-Sprache (2000) for body percussion
Stephan Winkler Von der Gewissensnot der Insekten (2012) for 17 players (first performance)
also Robin Hoffmann – Stimmungsbarometer (first performance)
Carl Rosman, body percussion (also Bb clarinet, alto saxophone, bass clarinet)
Dirk Wietheger, cello
Robin Hoffmann
Ensemble musikFabrik
Robin Hoffmann – An-Sprache (excerpt)
montagsKonzert der musikFabrik
4 March 2013, 8 pm
Studio der musikFabrik
Im Mediapark 7
Köln
David Young otturato (1992) for clarinet in B flat
Conlon Nancarrow/Raaf Hekkema Three two-part studies (1935)
Ned McGowan Tools (2004/13) for mixed quintet (first performance of this version)
also works by Gubaidulina, Vivier, Corea, Wesly, Lim
Carl Rosman, clarinet in B flat/bass clarinet
Helen Bledsoe, flutes
Alban Wesly, bassoon/curator
Axel Porath, viola
Ulrich Löffler, piano
Visiting Artist Series
25 January 2013, 6 pm
Steven Baxter Recital Studio
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music
National University of Singapore
Mauricio Kagel Schattenklänge (1995) for bass clarinet
Georges Aperghis Damespiel (2011) for bass clarinet
Helmut Lachenmann Dal Niente (Intérieur III) (1970) for clarinet in B flat
Vinko Globokar Voix Instrumentalisée (1973) for bass clarinet without mouthpiece
Rebecca Saunders Caerulean (2011) for bass clarinet
Brian Ferneyhough Time and Motion Study I (1971-77) for bass clarinet
Carl Rosman, clarinet in B flat/bass clarinet
montagsKonzert der musikFabrik
3 December 2012, 8 pm
Studio der musikFabrik
Im Mediapark 7
Köln
Igor Stravinsky Suite from L’Histoire du Soldat (1919) for clarinet in A/B flat, violin and piano
Helmut Lachenmann Dal Niente (Intérieur III) (1970) for clarinet in B flat
Alexander Chernyshkov rather blue (2012) for violin, bass clarinet and piano (first performance)
Béla Bartók Contrasts Sz 111 (1938) for violin, clarinet and piano
also Johannes Schöllhorn – Oréade and Helmut Lachenmann – Guero and Toccatina
Carl Rosman, clarinet in A/clarinet in B flat/bass clarinet
Hannah Weirich, violin and curator
Ulrich Löffler, piano
montagsKonzert der musikFabrik
1 October 2012, 8 pm
Studio der musikFabrik
Im Mediapark 7
Köln
Dieter Mack Bulan (1990) for cor anglais and bass clarinet
Georges Aperghis Récitation 9 (1978) for solo voice
Georges Aperghis Damespiel (2011) for bass clarinet (first performance in Germany)
Steven Takasugi Jargon of Nothingness (2012) for oboe, clarinet and electronics (first performance in Germany)
Georges Aperghis Récitation 7 (1978) for solo voice
Georges Aperghis À bout de bras (1989) for oboe and clarinet in C
also Chaya Czernowin – The Last Leaf and Liza Lim – Gyfu for solo oboe
Carl Rosman, clarinet in C/clarinet in B flat/bass clarinet/voice
Peter Veale, oboe
Damespiel (detail)
19 August 2012, 4 pm
The Red Hedgehog
255-257 Archway Road
Highgate, London
Claude Debussy Première rhapsodie (1909-10) for clarinet in B flat and piano
Richard Beaudoin The Artist and his Model IV—la tradition française (2011) for clarinet in B flat and piano (first performance)
Michael Finnissy Marilyn, Brian, Mike and the cats (2004) for clarinet in B flat, piano and pre-recorded cats
Johannes Brahms/Paul Klengel Duo für Clarinette und Pianoforte nach dem Quintett op. 115 (1891/1893) for clarinet in A and piano
also Beaudoin: The Artist and his Model I—la fille floutée
Carl Rosman, clarinets in B flat/A
Mark Knoop, piano
I’m sure most clarinettists dream of playing the Brahms quintet. Of course a fair number of lucky ones have even done it in real life. For some reason I have never managed all at the same time to have the impulse, the occasion, and the right friends who play the right instruments. In my university days I played the Brahms sonatas but I didn’t quite see the point of them then – they seemed like a clarinet interfering with a piano sonata (they still do, but that’s less of a problem when working with trusted colleagues than when preparing them alone to put them together with an accompanist just before an exam). I had to leave them alone for about ten years before I finally felt I could approach then again. I’ve also managed to play the trio once or twice. So far, though, the quintet has stayed out of reach – at least, as a quintet.
Over the last few years I’ve done a few Brahms arrangements just so that I could play a little more Brahms. The horn trio works surprisingly well for clarinet, cello and piano; so does the third movement of the third symphony, which a couple of years ago I arranged as an ‘encore’ piece for trio concerts. The last time I played the trio I wondered whether the quintet could be persuaded to work for clarinet and piano. It turns out that that thought is almost as old as the piece: the arrangement Mark and I will be playing was published in 1893. It’s by Paul Klengel, a ‘house arranger’ at Brahms’s publisher Simrock, who also made many other Brahms arrangements, including a solo piano version of the quintet at around the same time. (The piano solo version, although alas not the duo, is on IMSLP.) It isn’t simply a ‘piano reduction’ of the full version: the clarinet is often given music that the strings play in the full version, not just to give the clarinettist more to do, but to try to recreate the dialogue effectively for a duo rather than just cram four instruments into one. The most obvious moment is at the beginning of the finale, where the clarinet plays the theme instead of just a few accompanying fragments.
Just for a change, I’m not playing bass or contrabass clarinets this time. To keep things interesting I’m keeping my options open for now which B flat and A clarinets I use. I’ve had a Leblanc 1970s B flat ‘full Boehm’ for a little while now: its sound isn’t as full as more recent instruments but it has a huge range of colour and comes a lot closer to a classic ‘French’ palette – which makes playing Debussy on it very pleasant indeed, and which in turn should suit Richard Beaudoin’s ‘la tradition française’ quite nicely. I’m also trying a 1970s Buffet full Boehm A at the moment, which again is a little more intimate in sound that what I would otherwise play, but again, all the better for the Brahms, especially in a duo format. There’s just one moment where the extra low E flat of the full Boehm might be tempting:
I do hope I manage to resist.
(L: Buffet R13 full-Boehm A; R: Leblanc LL full-Boehm Bb. Photo Heather Roche.)
Tzlil Meudcan Festival & Summer Course of New Music
27 June 2012, 8 pm
Felicja Blumental Music Center, Tel Aviv
Georges Aperghis À bout de bras (1989) for oboe and clarinet in C
Georges Aperghis Damespiel (2011) for bass clarinet (first performance)
Steven Takasugi Jargon of Nothingness (2012) for oboe, clarinet and electronics (first performance)
Hadas Pe’ery Off-By-One Error (2012) for oboe/cor anglais, clarinet in B flat/bass clarinet and digital oscillator (first performance)
and other works
Carl Rosman, clarinet in C/clarinet in B flat/bass clarinet
Peter Veale, oboe