Unsung Clarinet Concertos

[Peter1953]

Famous are the delightful clarinet concertos by Crusell, Spohr and Von Weber. I think Mozart has written the most beautiful clarinet concerto ever. Nielsen wrote a clarinet concerto (1928), which I don't like so much. But which unsung romantic clarinet concertos do exist and are worth listening to?

[Hofrat]

Franz Krommer (1759-1831) wrote some very nice clarinet concerti.  I believe Naxos has recorded them.

[JimL]

Julius Rietz (Mendelssohn's successor at Leipzig) composed one in G Minor.

[Alan Howe]

I would have thought that Stanford's is as good as any - and it's from an era when hardly any were being written.

[TerraEpon]

I honestly find Spohr's very boring, for the record.

Anyway, being a (former) clarinet player, I of course enjoy many concerti for the instrument.

For starters, Krommer, ALL of them (I believe two solo, and two double). His Eb is just on the line of being sung, especially by clarinet players. Same with Carl Stamitz's #3, but all of his (many also on Naxos) are nice as well.

There's a fantastic 5CD set of 'Mannheim Clarinet Concerti' on the Arte Nova label (and probably OOP, alas). Aside from 7 concerti by Stamitz (include a double, a basset horn one, and a clar+bassoon one), it includes a couple by Danzi, one by Fuchs, and a bunch by otherwise unknowns. One of the best is a concerto for clarinet and English horn (!) by someone named Fiala.

Some others I have recordings of:
-Bottesini wrote a piece for clarinet, bass, and orchestra
-Carl Davis wrote a modernish but still mostly in his style concerto (alas only strings and timpani accompaniment)
-Bruch of course wrote the clarinet and viola concerto
-Cartellieri wrote a few. Actually all of his music I've heard has been lovely, a very fine early romantic all around
-Schickele wrote a concerto. It's very Americana and light hearted, as with most of his 'serious' music.
-Rossini of course wrote a pair of variations
-Mercadante wrote a pair. Like all his music, they are nice without being the best.
-Donizetti wrote a concertino
-Reicha wrote a concerto as well.
-Finzi wrote one of the best of the 20th century, even if it's only with string accompaniment

Of course, there's plenty of shorter pieces too...

[Chris_p]

Just recently downloaded clarinet concerti by Pleyel, a Mozart contemporary. Lovely as performed by Dieter Klocker on the CPO label. Just search the name Dieter Klocker and you will come up with a plethora of unknown clarinet concerti and composers you've perhaps never heard of. Also check out the concerti of Backofen and LeFevre.

[Hofrat]

Philipp Jakob Riotte (1776-1856)
Concerto for clarinet and orchestra in Bb major opus 28

[Hofrat]

Well, Mendelssohn is not unsung, but there are two fine unsung pieces featuring the clarinet:

Konzertstuck for clarinet and basset horn in F-minor opus 113
Konzertstuck for clarinet and basset horn in D-minor opus 114

Although originally composed with piano accompaniment, Mendelssohn later orchestrated them.

[sdtom]

If we're just talking about clarinet concertos in general I've always found the Copland one to be most rewarding.  In fact the historian Ken Burns used it as an unofficial theme song for his latest PBS entry "War."
Thomas

[mbhaub]

While we're on the subject, does anyone have an opinion why, for most concert goers, when they hear a concerto they expect one for either piano or violin? More rarely cello, viola, bass, flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone. Even more rarely percussion or harp. It's as if the other instruments are discriminated against. Maybe it was that in the 19th c so many performers on violin or piano wrote their own concertos and that got the idea in people's heads. It can't be that those instruments are so much harder to play than others either.

[TerraEpon]

Well if you go by "what they expect" NOW, it's obviously because the major composers, outside of Mozart (and Vivaldi) pretty much only wrote piano/violin(/cello) concerti. Everything else is mostly a couple well known ones -- after all, clarinet concerti can be easily be grouped into "Mozart and Two Webers....and the rest".

I too wish there were more romantic other-instrument concerti, but alas....

[Peter1953]

To add another concerto from the Mozart era: the clarinet concerto in B flat major by Theodor Baron von Schacht (1748-1823), in which he uses the world famous melody of "Twinkle twinkle little star". Mozart also used the melody, but it is not believed that he was the composer of this tune.

It's an interesting question Martin brings up. I think that also in the 19th century the violin and the piano were by far the most popular solo instruments. Maybe it was caused by the virtuosos who were real celebrities. Music lovers were eager to see and hear Paganini, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski and Liszt, Thalberg, Chopin. Those virtuosos stimulated other composers and performers. They all wrote concertos to show their superior virtuoso playing. But have you ever heard of a famous clarinet virtuoso? Or a composer who wrote mainly for the clarinet? Was Crusell perhaps an exception?
Are wind instruments suitable for solo playing in the same way like the piano and, less, the violin? If a child gets "for his or her education" music lessons, it's nearly always piano or violin. At least nowadays. But wasn't it in the 19th century the same? How few musical talents started playing a wind instrument? Or the harp?

[mbhaub]

How few musical talents started playing a wind instrument? Or the harp?

Yikes! You bring up a scary proposition. Today I know very few kids who take piano or violin lessons. Instead, they're all learning guitar or drums. I hope I'm deaf when orchestras start playing the Concerto for Rock Guitar and Drum Set.

[TerraEpon]

But have you ever heard of a famous clarinet virtuoso? Or a composer who wrote mainly for the clarinet?

Well certainly not AS famous, but there were definitely player-composers on those instruments back then that were well known virtuosi. Certainly Baermann father and son would fit for clarinet, the Doppler brothers for flute, Pasculli for oboe, and so on.

I hope I'm deaf when orchestras start playing the Concerto for Rock Guitar and Drum Set.

Dunno about both at the same time, but certainly concerti exist for each of these.

[izdawiz]

mmm . Well  how about Friedrich Witt's Flute Concerto.. okay okay so it's not a Clarinet concerto but it sure is a lovely piece .. I espcially like in on the  MDG@ label  because it's coupled with Symphony #6 in Aminor "Sinfonie turque" which for some time was mistakely attributed to Beethoven .. this disc also includes His Ninth Symphony  which is a true Gem a very fine Piece.