Fantasie - Clarinet Unaccompanied

For solo clarinet in B-flat, unaccompanied.

Jörg Widmann, an internationally sought-after soloist and professor of clarinet at the Freiburg Musikhochschule, displays the exquisite refinement of contemporary clarinet sound in 'Fünf Bruchstücke' (already published) for clarinet and piano (KLB 54) and in the present 'Fantasie' for solo clarinet. While noise, as a means of expression, is given much attention in 'Fünf Bruchstücke', 'Fantasie' is largely based on the usual Romantic melodious sound, though this time with ironic side trips into dance, klezmer and jazz music, the clarinet's equivalent of light music.

"'Fantasie' for solo clarinet is my first real piece for my own instrument, the clarinet. With its eccentric virtuosity and its cheerful, ironic fundamental character, it reflects the experience with Stravinsky's 3 Pieces for solo clarinet of 1919 and the tonal innovations which did not appear in music before Carl Maria von Weber's notation for the clarinet, and takes them further in a new way. It is a little imaginary scene uniting the dialogues of different people in close proximity in the spirit of the commedia dell'arte."

- Jörg Widmann

...on the interpretation:

"It would be important to take the title completely literally – which is why the performer should of course play the piece with imagination. The most important information on the structure: the complete absence of bar lines – whenever the piece is played to me by students or other persons, I am always pleased about the player's own ideas and about the fact that the musical text is taken literally and seriously, with all its dynamic and articulation marks, and yet filled with life and imagination. What I always notice, however, is that the rhythmic fast pulse part is often played like an étude, rather than with imagination. What is most important to me, personally, is to take pleasure in making tonal distinctions, even despite the strict timing. Use your imagination and enjoy playing my 'Fantasie'!"

- Jörg Widmann