Clarinet and Orchestra
David, Stadler, Hummel, Spohr, Späth and Kreutzer
It may seem strange that clarinet music of such an exemplary
kind as that included here should have remained virtually unknown. One reason
for this lies surely in the considerable technical difficulties involved and
another in the fact that the music is not so logical or graceful as the work,
for example, of Weber and of Mozart for the instrument. The nineteenth century,
moreover, was so blessed with clarinet masterworks by great composers such as
Weber, Spohr, Schumann, Brahms and Reger, that little room was left for the
music of so-called lesser masters. Avant-garde composers of the twentieth
century, through compositions that have less appeal to the public, have
contributed considerably to the increased attention that we now pay again to
the outstanding compositions of those artists who stand directly by the great
figures of the day and who, through their works, created a basis for the first
flowering of genius.
Ludwig Spohr has been to a certain extent restored to his
old position, particularly through some of his songs and chamber music.
Konradin Kreutzer is known to us through a few extracts from his opera Das
Nachtlager von Granada, Night's Lodging in Granada, through his folk-style
Hobel-Lied and through his splendid Septet. On the other hand who now knows the
Coburg composer Andreas Späth, whose compositions remind us so much of the work
of Franz Schubert? No-one. His work slumbers untouched in the archives of South
Germany. The case of Ferdinand David is very different; there is hardly a music
dictionary that does not praise this Jewish musician in the highest terms, yet
his compositions have remained until now merely archival material, his
reputation perhaps affected by the racial policies of the Third Reich, since
otherwise it is difficult to explain the neglect of his music. His importance
as a violin virtuoso and as a man close to Mendelssohn, whose famous Violin
Concerto was written for David, suggests a rich and still viable legacy. There
remains last but not least Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a pupil of Mozart. His
Trumpet Concerto still gives pleasure today as do some of his piano concertos.
The sad conclusion is that all these composers were not just known in their
lifetime and their own decade, but enjoyed a reputation throughout Europe.
Anton Stadler was the clarinettist for whom Mozart wrote his clarinet quintet
and concerto.
The concert-pieces performed here for the first time are in
no way to be taken as representative, yet they are distinguished by fine
melodic invention and a high level of virtuosity as was usual in the age of
wind virtuosi. Kreutzer, who was himself a celebrated clarinet virtuoso, wrote
his Variations for his private performance in Donaueschingen, where his Prince
formed the distinguished audience. Späth and Spohr with their clarinet pieces
had in mind the distinguished clarinet virtuoso Johann Simon Hermstedt, who was
born in Langensalza in 1778 and spent much of his career in the service of the
Duke of Sondershausen. The dedications of David's Opus 8 and Hummers Adagio and
Rondo are not known.
The present performances in the case of the works by Hummel,
Kreutzer and Späth, are based on the original autographs and those by Spohr and
David on contemporary printed editions.
Dieter Klöcker
(English version by
Keith Anderson)
Dieter Klöcker
Dieter Klöcker was born in Wuppertal and studied with Karl
Kroll and Jost Michaels at the North West German Music Academy in Detmold. From
1962 until 1969 he served as principal clarinettist in a number of German
orchestras, later establishing the Consortium Classicum, an ensemble with which
he has toured widely abroad, with recordings for EMI, Teldec, Orfeo, Novalis,
Koch-Schwann, BASF and other companies, and awards that include the Deutsche
Schallplattenpreis, the Wiener Flötenuhr and the Prix Italia. Since 1975 Dieter
Klöcker has been professor of the clarinet and of chamber music at the State
High School for Music in Freiburg / Breisgau.
Gernot Schmalfuss
Gernot Schmalfuss was born in 1943 in East Prussia and in
1963 began his studies of oboe, piano and conducting at the Detmöld College of
Music. After graduation in 1968 he was appointed principal oboist in the Munich
Philharmonic Orchestra, taking lessons in conducting from Rudolf Kempe. Four
years later he became conductor of the Munich Chamber Soloists and from 1978
combined a position as professor of oboe at the Munich Richard Strauss
Conservatory with that of conductor of the Conservatory Orchestra. Since 1985
he has been on the teaching staff of the Detmold College of Music, while
pursuing a career at home and abroad as an oboist and as a conductor. He has
recorded for EMI, Telefunken, Orfeo, DGG and other leading companies.