Bach, Berio, Boulez: Hudba pro sólový klarinet - CD

This CD presents Marek Švejkar’s bold and brilliant debut, bringing together works for solo clarinet by Johann Sebastian Bach, Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez. The clarinet belongs to the instruments with the broadest range of sound possibilities, from dynamic volume to pitch. Although it received considerable attention during the Classical era as a concertante, chamber and orchestral instrument, it had to wait until the 20th century for works in which its solo voice could be heard in all its colours, without accompaniment. Among the leading composers of such works are Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez, two figures who fundamentally shaped musical thinking in the second half of the 20th century. This recording, made for the centenary of their births, contains their complete works for solo clarinet: Boulez’s Domaines and Dialogue de l’ombre double, and Berio’s Sequenza IX and Lied. Both composers sought new ways of organising music in time and space, and both found inspiration in poetry. Berio was also inspired by J. S. Bach’s compositions in his search for “polyphonic music for a monophonic instrument”; Bach’s Flute Partita in A minor therefore appears here as a counterpoint to 20th-century modernism. Marek Švejkar holds the Premier Prix from the prestigious Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris and has won international competitions, including those in Markneukirchen, Germany, and Carlino, Italy. He has performed as a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic and Jiří Bělohlávek, participated in the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, and now works at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome under Alessandro Carbonare.