In a new recording by SOMM Records, British clarinettist Peter Cigleris takes on four clarinet concertos, from Hungary, Britain, the US, and Japan, to bring us a world of new works for the clarinet.

Peter Cigleris

One should probably beware of any piece of music that calls itself ‘semplice’, i.e., simple. You know that it’s not going to be anything simple except for virtuosos, and so we have the Concerto Semplice by Hungarian composer Frigyes Hidas (1928–2007).

Frigyes Hidas

Also entitled Clarinet Concerto No. 2, this work began in 1977 as a piece for clarinet and string orchestra; it was later rewritten in 1996 for clarinet and wind orchestra.

The work trades leadership between the clarinet and the orchestra. Often, the orchestra merely imitates the melodies of the clarinet, but other times, its own unique timbres, particularly with percussion, carry their own weight. Although most Hungarian music we are familiar with, such as by Bartók or Kodály, carries strong Hungarian melodic motions, Hidas avoids this sound but encapsulates Hungarian traditional forms and musical language.

Frigyes Hidas: Concerto Semplice – III. Allegro

Simon Milton

The second concerto is by British composer Simon Milton (b. 1977), who studied both composition and clarinet. In 1999, Milton won the Cornish Young Composers’ Competition, and since that success has written much music, especially for the clarinet. He composed his own Carmen Fantasy for the 2009 Harrogate Festival, working with clarinettist Michael Collins.

Milton’s Clarinet Concerto is created around the idea that not only is there a soloist at the front of the stage, but also there are soloists within the orchestra, either as individual instruments or instrumental groups. He’s aiming for a filmic sound world, so percussion plays an important role in both support and emphasis.

David Maslanka

American composer David Maslanka (1943–2017) studied with H. Owen Reed, who had been a student of Arnold Schoenberg, Aaron Copland, and Roy Harris. Through Reed, Maslanka became a writer of music for concert bands, including his 2014 Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Orchestra. It was written on commission for Myroslava Hagen and the University of Utah Wind Ensemble, with the premiere in February 2015.

Instead of the usual 3-movement concerto form, Maslanka only uses two movements: Lamentation and Dance, saying that he was imitating ‘old forms such as the toccata and fugue – a free improvisatory movement followed by a rhythmically energised and formally strict second movement’. Although harking back to Baroque forms, he also sees the work tied in with Classical and Romantic forms: Classical in having only a simple movement title, with ‘only very general indications of attitude’.

He sees his clarinet concerto as reflecting the enormous technological changes that surround us, such as instant communication and instant information, with the result that the world seems increasingly understandable so that ‘we are at last beginning to see and understand the human race as one entity’. Lamentation is our period of mourning as we regard our personal troubles and the troubles of the world that we live in; Dance is how we can transcend those to create a new place for all. It is the clarinet that will lead us to our new realisation and our new world.

Satoshi Yagisawa

The final work on the album is the single-movement Clarinet Concerto by Satoshi Yagisawa (b.1975). This work is in a very different style from the other concertos on the recording. It’s very much clarinet-forward, with not appearing as much as the main character, giving the whole work its instrumental grounding.

The clarinettist Peter Cigleris studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal College of Music in London. His interest is centred on English clarinet repertoire, and this new recording on SOMM expands his repertoire to the world. The virtuoso passages on this recording are well within his expertise and are a joy to hear.

He’s accompanied by the Győr Symphonic Band, led by László Marosi (Milton and Maslanka) and Ferenc Szabó (Hidas and Yagisawa).

Clarinet Concertos: Frigyes Hidas; Simon Milton; David Maslanka; Satoshi Yagisawa
Peter Cigleris (clarinet); Győr Symphonic Band; László Marosi & Ferenc Szabó (conductors)
SOMM Recordings SOMMCD 0705
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