Fell Clarinet Quartet - Knotwork (2008)

Manchester-based Fell Clarinet Quartet has the goal of playing new compositions and bringing older pieces to the public's attention, and in its debut CD, it presents works from both categories. Austrian composer Alfred Uhl's Divertimento from 1942, a pleasantly quirky, somewhat Hindemithian suite in three movements, is one of the earliest works for the ensemble of four clarinets, and it skillfully exploits the expressive and timbral possibilities of the ensemble. The more recent composers broaden these possibilities, and some of the newer works, such as Graham Fitkin's Vent and Lenny Sayers' For Four, have the loose-limbed energy and eclecticism associated with Bang on a Can. Nicholas Simpson cleverly applies the principals of the British tradition of church bells' change ringing in his Mardale Changes. An arrangement of Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango works beautifully for clarinets (not surprisingly, since his music is so durable that it takes well to any number of instrumental combinations). The quartets use an assortment of B flat, E flat, and bass clarinets so the ensemble has the capability of a range nearly as wide as that of a wind quintet. Each clarinet has such a variety of colorful tonal possibilities and so many diverse articulations available across its wide range that timbral monotony is not likely to be a problem, particularly in the writing of composers as inventive as those represented here. The ensemble plays with a warm, beautifully blended tone and makes a strong case for the clarinet quartet as an attractive, viable ensemble that should have an appeal beyond the traditional fans of music for winds. The sound is full, clean, and nicely resonant.