Fantasie (Widmann)

Fantasie for Solo Clarinet is a solo instrumental work by Jörg Widmann and was composed in 1993. It has a "Harlequin spirit".

History

Stravinsky's Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet and Boulez's Dialogue de l'ombre double were used as the basis. Fantasie was an early composition of Widmann, he was 20 years old. The piece was premiered by the composer on 1 March 1994 at Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich.

Music

Fantasie opens with a multiphonic as a parody of new music; Widmann uses frequently extended techniques. The work has elements of dance, klezmer and jazz music and is an expression of "virtuoso flourishes and youthful exuberance". The piece is influenced by the commedia dell'arte. The composer cites The Rite of Spring in Fantasie.

Structure

Sections:

Free, rhapsodically
Fast, brilliant
Presto possible
Tempo come prima, ma poco più mosso

Reception

Zachary Woolfe from The New York Times wrote: "...sounding like the most beautiful circus music ever written."

Recordings

Bettina Aust and Robert Aust, Bettina Aust – Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, Laureate 2015, Clarinet, Recorded at Ehemalige Sendestelle des Deutschlandradios, 16–19 October 2015, GENUIN classics, GEN 16432, 2016, compact disc.
Eduard Brunner, Music for Solo Clarinet, Recorded in Studio 2, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich, 14–15 December 2009, Naxos, 8.572470, 2011, compact disc.
Stefan Neubauer, Solitary Changes, Recorded between 2012 and 2013, Orlando Records, or 0006, 2013.