Clarinet Concerto

Clarinet Concerto f;I t "^F^\ rYrutr1 r!{rr r..r!3uu\ rilli \v3l./rry' lf Sibelius's Sixth Symphony was'pure tonight's soloist. The two men have known cold water', the 2002 Clarinet Concerto each other since their student days at by his compatriot Magnus Lindberg Helsinki's Sibelius Academy of Music in the is at the other end of the scale. Joyful, late 1970s, where they played together sensual and shamelessly extravagant, the in contemporary music ensemble Toimii Concerto manages the near impossible alongside Esa-Pekka Salonen and other - to combine an unapologetically avant- now renowned instrumentalists. garde sensibility with a tunefulness and a sparkling orchestration that make the Lindberg wrote a Clarinet Quintet for piece immediately easy, even seductive, Kriikku in 1992, and the clarinettist later on the ear. suggested a piece for clarinet and orchestra that would allow the orchestra to play Lindberg is one of contemporary music's loudly but the clarinet still to be heard big hitters, with residencies at the New York clearly. Lindberg duly obliged. Philharmonic and London Philharmonic and numerous recordings to his name, and The composer worked on the Concerto his music has long been characterised by during a summer holiday in 2002, al a vigorous energy and a propulsive sense of coastal retreat on an island in the Gulf of rhythm. With his Clarinet Concerto, though, Finland. Kriikku happened to be staying he seemed to add to those with a warm nearby, and the two men reportedly sense of melody that - together with the exchanged ideas by phone and in person. piece's astonishing orchestral colour - give As Lindberg began to produce pages of the work immediate appeal. lt's no wonder the score, he was able to deliver them to that the Concerto has enjoyed phenomenal Kriikku by boat. success across the world, with more than 60 performances since its premiere in 2002. Contemporary techniques z and glowing tonality o A Concerto of friendship The Concerto he wrote draws heavily Central to the Concerto is the composer's on Kriikku's virtuosity in an enormously long friendship with clarinettist Kari Kriikku, demanding solo part that leaps between 5 the extremes of the clarinet's range, The orchestra seems to steal the requires astonishing rhythmic precision clarinet's theme for a lush, Hollywood- and places the soloist firmly in the spotlight style treatment of it, which provokes almost throughout. Lindberg also makes some angry multiphonics as the soloist extensive use of some unusual extended reasserts himself, before a quieter section playing techniques. There are slides in which the clarinet bubbles away against between notes (sometimes reminiscent a chamber ensemble of just a few strings of the opening of Gershwin's Rhapsody in and woodwind. Following more of those B/ue), tremolos that almost make it sound distinctive striding brass chords, the clarinet as if the clarinet is playing two notes at returns for an unsettled passage that once, and roaring multiphonics whereby gradually calms down to some enigmatic the player really does play several notes tremolos, almost subsiding to silence. at the same time. After the orchestra returns for a surging Lindberg doesn't shy away from the climax, the clarinet plays its opening dissonance and complexity of a 21st- melody in ringing simplicity against century sound world in his intricate sustained strings, handing it on to a solo rhythms and unpredictable harmonies, trombone, which leads to one of the sometimes even analysing the acoustical Concerto's rare pauses for breath. But soon properties of the sounds themselves to the rising brass chords returh, followed generate a rich, radiant sense of colour. by the clarinet's opening tune glinting But nor is he afraid to break into passages with bells. The soloist has a brief, quiet of glowing consonant tonality, especially conversation with its two colleagues in the towards the Concerto's conclusion. orchestra, and later, a stratospherically high figure - produced by the clarinettist playing The music with his teeth on the reed - heralds a solo The Clarinet Concerto is in a single cadenza, which he improvises on the spot. movement, but breaks down into several shorter, contrasting sections. lt begins When the orchestra returns, it's for a long, with an unassuming melody for clarinet slow build-up to the Concerto's grand alone - hardly a melody, in fact, and more conclusion. The clarinet plays its opening simply a collection of faltering phrases. But theme in a setting of glowing tonality remember this tune: you'll hear it time and before a final, massive chord of C major time again as it blossoms in ever grander brings the Concerto to an ecstatic ending - ways throughout the Concerto. even if the soloist stubbornly sticks to the 'wrong'note. The soloist is soon joined by icy string chords and a glitter of percussion, his tune A Dovid Kettle, 201 5 expanding and becoming more agitated, always with a sense of forward propulsion. After a moment of rest on a broad chord of B flat, we're off again, the clarinettist soon z o joined by striding chords in the brass, rising ever higher - these become an increasingly prominent part of the orchestral texture as s the piece progresses. 5.

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