Clarinet Quintet (Widmann)

Jörg Widmann's Clarinet Quintet was composed in 2017. It was premiered on 24 April 2017 in Madrid. The one-movement Adagio in tempo Lento assai has a duration of approximately forty minutes.[2]

Clarinet Quintet
Clarinet quintet by Jörg Widmann
Hagen Quartet in Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ with clarinetist Jörg Widmann on 27 January 2018
PeriodContemporary
Composed2017
Published2019 (2019): Mainz
PublisherSchott Music
Duration40:00[1]
Scoring
  • clarinet
  • 2 violins
  • viola
  • cello
Premiere
Date24 April 2017 (2017-04-24)
LocationAuditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid
PerformersJörg Widmann, Hagen Quartet

Background

Initially the Hagen Quartet asked Widmann to compose a clarinet quintet.[3] Widmann's unsuccessful first attempt to write a clarinet quintet was in 2009 and initially abandoned because "music history ... suddenly appeared as a great burden".[4][5] The Clarinet Quintet was finally composed in 2017.[6][7] The work is commissioned by Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical Madrid, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, Strijkkwartet Biennale Amsterdam, LuganoMusica, Carnegie Hall, Cité de la Musique Paris, Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg, Philharmonie Essen, and Wigmore Hall.[1]

Music

The material of the clarinet quintet is reduced to a minimum.[3] A sighing motif of a falling fifth, a direct citation from the final of Brahms's Clarinet Quintet opens the clarinet part.[3] The fifth is a melodic and harmonic (as drone) leitmotif of the whole composition.[8] Another stamping element is a simple three note figure, consisting of one step up and two steps down.[3] It is derived from Mozart's Clarinet Quintet first-movement theme.[3] Special extended techniques are multiphonics, string harmonics, extended bowing techniques, "Toppan"-Staccato and echo effects.[6][3][1] The music is often quiet.[4]

\relative c' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"Clarinet" \key d \major \time 6/8 r4 r8 fis4.( | b,2.) }
Citation: Brahms, Clarinet Quintet, final, falling fifth


\relative c'' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"piano" \key a \major \time 4/4 r4 cis4( d b) }
from
\relative c'' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin" \tempo "Allegro" \tempo 4 = 126 \key a \major \time 4/4 e2( cis | b a) | b4( cis d b) | gis2( a) | fis4( a e a) | e2 d4.(\startTrillSpan cis16\stopTrillSpan d) | cis4 }
Citation: Mozart, Clarinet Quintet, first movement, main theme

Performances

The world premiere was on 24 April 2017 in Madrid, Auditorio Nacional de Música, Sala de Cámara.[9] Performers were Widmann and the Hagen Quartet.[9] In 2018–2019 the Clarinet Quintet was played also in an international tour, with performances in Paris, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Essen, London, Salzburg, and New York.[1]

Reception

Heidemarie Klabacher wrote: "wonderful contribution to the music genre" ("wunderbarer Beitrag zur Gattung").[6] Gavin Dixon wrote: "a study in reserve and intimacy".[4] Pablo L. Rodriguez wrote in El Pais: "Widmann shows his most intimate and melancholic side" ("Widmann muestra su lado más íntimo y melancólico").[9]

References
  1. "Clarinet Quintet (Score)". Schott Music. 2017. ISMN 979-0-001-16754-3. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  2. Berry, Mark (2 February 2018). "Widmann and the Hagen Quartet Penetrate to the Heart of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet". seenandheard-international.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  3. Hauser, Florian; Haskell, Harry (26 January 2018). Hagen Quartett & Jörg Widmann, Einführungstext: Extreme auf engstem Raum, Program Note: Tradition and Innovation (booklet). Berlin: Barenboim-Said Akademie gGmbH. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  4. Dixon, Gavin (31 January 2018). "Hagen Quartet, Jörg Widmann, Wigmore Hall review – proportion and elegance". The Arts Desk. London. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  5. Klabacher, Heidemarie (24 January 2018). "Gesang, Schweben, Liebe". DrehPunktKultur (in German). Salzburg. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  6. Klabacher, Heidemarie (2 February 2018). "Und dann öffnen sich die Wolken…". DrehPunktKultur (in German). Salzburg. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  7. Fischer-Zernin, Verena (3 February 2019). "Streicherkunst mit Widmann und dem Hagen Quartett". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  8. Krampe, Robert (2018). Programmheft NDR Das neue Werk, Hagen Quartett & Jörg Widmann (PDF) (booklet). Hamburg: NDR. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  9. Rodriguez, Pablo L. (26 April 2017). "Catábasis – El compositor Jörg Widmann muestra en su "Quinteto con clarinete" su lado más íntimo y melancólico". El Pais (in Spanish). Madrid. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.

Further reading
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