Andreas Hermanski - Neoteric (2021)

The album "Neoteric" unites two musical worlds, which seemingly are not necessarily connected on the outside, yet have an inner connection, which this album wants to show. The idea for this compilation came from the very personal fascination of the performer Andreas Hermanski. His musical focus is on the Nordic-Scandinavian clarinet literature as well as the French tradition from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century.

As much as the French and Nordic works presented on this CD seem to be separated, the two parts of the album are connected by numerous inner references. Just as Poulenc's sonata was written for clarinetist Benny Goodman, who was also the performer at the premiere, Rolf Martinsson worked closely with Martin Fröst in the composition of his suite; his newly developed playing techniques and extraordinary musical personality have a palpable and audible influence on the work. Chausson's "Andante et Allegro" and Debussy's "Première Rhapsodie" are, how could it be otherwise with works commissioned for a competition, written in a format typical for this: this demands both a lyrical, songful and a highly virtuosic, fast finale.

This structure can be found again in Lindberg's "Acequia Madre" and Martinsson's "Suite Fantastique". In contrast, the works of Debussy and Pärt meet in their tonally spherical language and their content, which almost evaporates into the transcendent. The quasi-symmetrical internal structure of both parts, the French as well as the Nordic block, is intended to depict these analogies and inner references and make them audible.