Concertos pour clarinette

Description

Charles-Luis Hanssens (Ghent - Brussels), a Belgian composer, wrote these works between 1836 and 1843 for soloists from his immediate circle. The first *Concertino* was written in 1836 for the clarinetist Frédéric Franck, followed the same year by the *Fantaisie* for clarinet and violin. In 1837, the second *Concertino* was published, dedicated to Joseph Blaes, who performed it regularly both in Belgium and abroad. The *Morceau de concert* for oboe and clarinet dates from 1841; it was premiered in Ghent by Blaes alongside the oboist Aimé-Lambert Istas. The last work, the *Solo de clarinette avec orchestre*, was composed in 1843 for Isidore Vandenhaute, the principal clarinetist of the orchestras of the Grand Théâtre and the Casino of Ghent. The music evolves in a bright universe; the virtuosic writing, rooted in the classical tradition, reveals echoes of Beethoven and Weber. These are not minor curiosities, but works that, as Eddy Vanoosthuyse argues, stand up to comparison with a large part of the more famous international repertoire of the same period.