Clarinet Concerto (Copland)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto was written between 1947 and 1948. It is also sometimes known as the Concerto for Clarinet, Strings and Harp.
Contents |
[edit] History
Soon after Copland composed his Third Symphony, jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman commissioned him to write a clarinet concerto. This request came at a very prolific time in Copland's career; however, Copland wrote few major works after the completion of his clarinet concerto.
[edit] Style and structure
Copland incorporated many jazz elements into his concerto. Copland once told Phillip Ramey that his decision to use jazz materials was "inspired by Goodman's playing" but that, "contrary to certain commentators, the jazz elements in the Clarinet Concerto have nothing to do with the 'hot jazz' improvisation for which Benny Goodman and his sextet were noted".[citation needed]
The piece is written in a very unusual form. The two movements are played back-to-back, linked by a clarinet cadenza. The first movement is written in A-B-A form and is slow and expressive, full of bittersweet lyricism. The cadenza not only gives the soloist an opportunity to display his virtuosity, but also introduces many of the melodic Latin American jazz themes that dominate the second movement. The overall form of the final movement is a free rondo with several developing side issues that resolve in the end with an elaborate coda in C major. Copland noted that his playful finale is born of "an unconscious fusion of elements obviously related to North and South American popular music (for example, a phrase from a currently popular Brazilian tune, heard by me in Rio, became embedded in the secondary material)." This section was written specially for Benny Goodman's jazz talents; however, many of the technical challenges were above Goodman's confidence level (but probably not his skill level), and the original score shows several alterations to bring down higher notes, making it easier to play. Recently, performances of the restored original version have been given by Charles Neidich and Andrew Simon, among others. The only recording of this version made thus far is by Charles Neidich on Chandos Records.
[edit] Performances
Benny Goodman first performed the concerto with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fritz Reiner, on November 6, 1950. This performance, however, was not the world premiere, which had been given by Ralph McLane and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The concerto quickly established itself as a standard piece in the clarinet repertoire. Since the performance by Benny Goodman, other notable performances include those by Stanley Drucker and the New York Philharmonic, Richard Stoltzman and the London Symphony Orchestra, Paul Meyer and the English Chamber Orchestra, Sabine Meyer and the Bamberger Symphoniker Big Band, and David Shifrin and the San Jose Symphony.
[edit] References
- Stoltzman, Richard. The Essential Clarinet. ASIN: B000003FC2
