Alberto Posadas Sombras (2010-12) for soprano, bass clarinet and string quartet (first performance)

Sarah Maria Sun, soprano
Carl Rosman, bass clarinet
Quatuor Diotima

Quatuor Diotima
Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik

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

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

Ensemble musikFabrik

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)

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

ONtemporary
Ensemble musikFabrik

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

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music

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

Ensemble musikFabrik

Damespiel (detail)

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.)

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

The Red Hedgehog

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

Tzlil Meudcan