Concertos pour clarinette

Description

Micheal Collins brings together two basset clarinet concertos with a 230-year gap. The two concertos performed here by Michael Collins and the Philharmonia Orchestra were both intended for a specific musician: Mozart composed his for Anton Stadler and Richard Birchall for Michael Collins. These two works, along with Mozart's Clarinet Quintet, were written for a particular instrument: the basset clarinet. It is a slightly larger and deeper clarinet than the A clarinet, which became the standard after Mozart wrote his concerto. At the heart of the clarinet repertoire, Mozart's works were until recently played on the A clarinet, with the necessary adjustments for each part. Today, they are increasingly performed on the instrument for which they were intended. Richard Birchall, in his basset clarinet concerto, also utilizes the extended range of the basset clarinet, for example in the third movement, Impossible Construction. This movement, and indeed the entire work, is inspired by the artwork of M. C. Escher and the combination of surreal elements and mathematical precision.