Kapelle Rubin, Getzmann, Buser

The title of this easily playable clarinet quartet refers to the tear-off calendars popular in Germany: the date on the front, aphorisms and maxims on the reverse – coincidental and unconnected, yet subject to a common law: time going by. Instrumentation: clarinet in B flat, violin, cello and piano

Titelzusatz: f?r Bass-Klarinette (oder Violoncello) und KlavierBesetzung: Bass-Klarinette in b oder Violoncello und KlavierOpus: 23Kompositionsjahr: 1995Inhalt: I Ballade – II Variationen – III ElegieSeitenzahl: 57Bindung: R?ckendrahtheftungSchwierigkeitsgrad: 5Medienart: Noten

With the title of this composition, Fever Fantasy, Jörg Widmann refers to its musical air: ‘I often feel Robert Schumann‘s melodic shape to be like the amplitude of a temperature curve: nervous, flickering, feverish, an infinite number of small and large wave crests and troughs within the principal line.’ The composer approaches this sound phenomenon with a setting for acoustic instruments. Nevertheless, he succeeds in conjuring up very unusual sound spectrums. Over long sections, the notation of this score mirrors the musical progressions, containing no concrete pitches but detailed performance instructions instead. Slowly, individual tones emerge from ascending pizzicato lines, colourless sound surfaces, sounds of harmonics roughened by tremolos, and virtuoso clarinet scales, tones that do not reveal their origin until the work ends: C – F – E – D sharp, the beginning of Schumann’s first violin sonata. Instrumentation: piano, string quartet and clarinet in Bb (bassclarinet in Bb)

„This Concerto was inspired and written in honour of Zoltán Kodály.“ Hartmann was inspired to write a piece of music characterised by a Hungarian flavour, as much in the cadenza-like free passages reminiscent of gypsy music in the third movement „Fantasie“ as in the vivacious „dance variations“ of the second movement. Instrumentation: clarinet, string quartet and string orchestra

„This Concerto was inspired and written in honour of Zoltán Kodály.“ Hartmann was inspired to write a piece of music characterised by a Hungarian flavour, as much in the cadenza-like free passages reminiscent of gypsy music in the third movement „Fantasie“ as in the vivacious „dance variations“ of the second movement. Instrumentation: clarinet, string quartet and string orchestra

Immer wieder passiert es, dass man eine nicht allzu häufig vorkommende Note spielen möchte – und einem der Griff dazu nicht einfällt. Ein schneller Blick in den Spicker und schon findet man den korrekten Griff. Alle neuen Spicker sind im Hochformat (praktisch für den Instrumentenkoffer) und auf lackgeschütztem Papier gedruckt, um eine schnelle Benutzung und Langlebigkeit zu gewährleisten.

This piece, previously considered lost since its first performance, was described thus in reviews of that concert: „… The composition is modern and the humour appears to be that of the composer himself. Michel Nicolay, who has extraordinary technical skill and fabulous breathing control, leads this difficult work by the Munich composer Hartmann and is supported by the accompaniment of seven wind instruments. The bassoon provides rather a humorous bass line in the first section, with the whole work tending somewhat towards the burlesque. The second section contains some really astonishing passages.“ Instrumentation: Trumpet with 7 Solo-Instruments (Clarinet in B flat, BassClarinet in B flat, Bassoon, Contrabassoon, French Horn in F, Trumpet in C, Tuba)

The Hungarian composer István Szelényi (1904 – 1972), a student of Kodály, originally wrote „Aria“ for cello or clarinet and piano. Subsequently the solo part has been transcribed for violin (arranged by Susanne Bánk) and viola (arranged by Martin Fischer). The original version, an elegiac, cantabile concert piece – many rhythmic and melodical features are influenced by Kodály and Hungarian folk music – requires a beautiful tone and a freely drawn-out tempos with plenty of rubato from the performer. Instrumentation: cello (violin, viola) or clarinet (alto saxophone) and piano

Kirchner’s œuvre spans a wide range of musical genres. Apart from numerous compositions for orchestra and for the music theatre the former professional viola player has always had a soft spot for chamber music. Though even in this sphere of “absolute and pure” art Kirchner’s music has strong connections with the more theatrical, the “Comédie huMayne” which is also reflected in his choice of titles (e.g. Mysterion, Il canto della notte, Lamento d’Orfeo, Exil). The clarinet proves to be the ideal instrument to bring out the somewhat scurrilous humour and character of Pierrot; no doubt, player and audience alike will conjure up suitable images (“scenes”) from the Commedia del’ arte. Instrumentation: clarinet in Bb solo

The name Kroll has a distinctive ring in clarinet circles as Oskar Kroll’s book on the clarinet has been regarded as one of the standard treatises on clarinet playing ever since its first edition in 1944. The 30 Studies on Tonguing Techniques’ are not repetitive and dully mechanical but focus on each technical problem in detail and with precise solutions. Instrumentation: clarinet