Fantasie for Solo Clarinet is a solo instrumental work by Jörg Widmann and was composed in 1993. It is a showpiece.[2] It offers a Romantic melodious sound with dance, klezmer and jazz music elements[1] in a "Harlequin spirit".[2]
Fantasie | |
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by Jörg Widmann | |
![]() The composer in 2006 | |
Period | Contemporary |
Composed | 1993 |
Published | 2005 (2005): Mainz |
Publisher | Schott Music |
Duration | 7:00[1] |
Scoring | clarinet in B♭ |
Premiere | |
Date | 1 March 1994 (1994-03-01) |
Location | Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich |
Performers | Jörg Widmann |
The Fantasie for Solo Clarinet, composed in 1993, is one of Widmann’s earliest compositions.[3] He was inspired by Igor Stravinsky's Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet (1919) and Pierre Boulez's Dialogue de l'ombre double (1985) for clarinet and tape.[4] Widmann had in mind the Harlequin figure from the Italian commedia dell'arte.[4][lower-alpha 1] The piece was premiered by the composer on 1 March 1994 at Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich.[1]
Widmann wrote the Fantasie, when he was just twenty years old. It's an expression of "youthful exuberance" with "virtuoso flourishes".[3] He combines conventional playing with extended techniques (multiphonics, flutter-tonguing, key clicks),[5] and non-pitched sounds.[3] Widmann’s skills in clarinet playing helped him in composing his Fantasie.[6] The piece is full of extremes in dynamic, tempo, and character.[7] According to Widmann, the opening multiphonic of the Fantasie is being a parody of new music, since many new works of that time begin in a similar manner.[4] Widmann identifies harmony as the central theme of the work.[8] A typical sound are glissandos in the upper registers, in a klezmer or "exaggeratedly jazzy" style.[2] Silences are important. Widmann notates them as a breath mark, a breath mark with a fermata, and an actual rest.[2] Near the beginning is a melody from The Rite of Spring.[9]
Sections:[10]
The Fantasie is one of Widmann’s most frequently performed works and is standard repertory of unaccompanied works for clarinet.[7] Zachary Woolfe from The New York Times wrote: "...sounding like the most beautiful circus music ever written."[9]
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