New English Clarinet Music

New English Clarinet Music
commissioned by The Mühlfeld Ensemble

Victoria Soames Samek - clarinet        Julia Vohralik - cello        Jonathan Higgins - piano

Over the last decade The Mühlfeld Ensemble has played a leading role in commissioning new music featuring the clarinet- particularly from English composers. On this new release it presents five of the best works by composers of different generations.

Elisabeth Lutyens (1906-1983) wrote film music for Hammer horror movies to pay the rent but in her concert music was adventurous and visionary. This was especially true of her later years where she developed a style that was spare and poignant as can be seen in her Trio (1979).

This CD keeps the enthusiast for clarinet music and new music in general up to date with what is happening in the UK. The music is modern, searching, and full of character and purpose, with authoritative performances from the world's leading clarinet ensemble. The clarinettist Victoria Soames, founder of The Mühlfeld Ensemble and Clarinet Classics itself comments:

" Since the days when Stadler and Mozart worked together, clarinet players have been closely in touch with new music. As these works show, it has been both a duty and a pleasure for me to do the same, encouraging composers to write for this wonderful instrument."

• Anthony Powers - Trio

• Nicola LeFanu's Lullaby and Nocturne (1988) are examples of charming, gentle night music.

• Graham Williams' The Song Within (1980) makes a feature of the bass clarinet.

• Roger Marsh's Ferry Music (1988) charts the journey of dead souls carried by Charon across the River Styx to Hades- intense, vigorous imagery brought to life by a virtuosic clarinet part.

"All five pieces are better than 'interesting' and one wants a better word than 'enterprising' (which so often means a good try …..) for the Mühlfeld Ensemble's success rate in their commissioning. The record is first class."
GRAMOPHONE

Full listing
Elisabeth Lutyens - Trio; Graham Williams - Song Within; Roger Marsh - Ferry Music; Nicola LeFanu - Lullaby & Nocturne; Anthony Powers - Trio