Stanford's Clarinet Concerto was composed in 1902 in response to an informal request from German clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld, for whom Brahms also wrote clarinet works.
Composer Biography
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, a leading figure in British music, taught composition at the Royal College of Music and held a music professorship at Cambridge.
Composition History
Finzi's Clarinet Concerto was commissioned in September 1948 by the Three Choirs Festival and premiered in Hereford in September 1949, with Finzi conducting.
Composition History
Sir Malcolm Arnold's Clarinet Concerto No. 2 was dedicated to "Benny Goodman with admiration and affection" and commissioned by the famous American jazz clarinettist.
Compositional Technique
Stanford's Clarinet Concerto ingeniously combines the elements of a first allegro, a slow movement, and a finale into a single continuous entity.
Composer Biography
Gerald Finzi, born into a distinguished north London family, spent most of his life in the English countryside, moving to Ashmansworth in Hampshire in 1939.
Compositional Technique
A striking feature of Finzi's Clarinet Concerto is the contrast between the frequently chromatic and vehement string orchestra and the mostly diatonic, lyrical soloist.
You might also enjoy...
Arnold, Britten & Maconchy: Clarinet Concertos
Finzi & Stanford: Clarinet Concertos
Britten, Mathias, Finzi & Cooke: British Clarinet Concertos, Vol. 2
Clarinet Concertos Dedicated to Benny Goodman
Rediscovered: British Clarinet Concertos by Dolmetsch, Maconchy, Spain-dunk & Wishart
Finzi: Bagatelles, Op. 23 & Clarinet Concerto in C-Minor, Op. 31 & Ashmore: Four Seasons
English Fantasy
Weber: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 and 2
Spohr: Clarinet Concertos
Spohr: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 26; Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 57
Copland: Clarinet Concerto & Appalachian Spring - Finzi: Clarinet Concerto & Romance for Strings
Weber, C.M.: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 and 2/ Clarinet Concertino in C Minor
