A Comparative Analysis of the Different Performance Methods of the First Movement of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto K622 in the 20th Century

Mozart's Clarinet Concerto K622 is one of the most famous Concertos in the world. Due to the original score has been lost, Bassett clarinet in G key has gradually stepped out of people's vision in the long history, resulting in 18 versions of score on the world, and there are many completely different recorded versions at the same time. Taking 1970 as a time point, this paper analyzes the recording versions of four international mainstream clarinet masters before and after the 1970s, and horizontally discusses the differences and characteristics of early and late recording, in order to provide reference for clarinet performance and version selection.

Flatwards Bound: Defining Harmonic Flavour in Late Nielsen

Early studies of Nielsen’s harmony focused on large-scale tonal design, tracking the progression of key areas across large spans of time. With this foundation in place attention has increasingly turned to moment-to-moment qualities in Nielsen’s harmony. Fanning, for instance, attributes its ‘characteristic flavour’ to the ‘interpenetration of modal and tonal elements’. I attempt to define this ‘flavour’ by identifying at least some of its ingredients in passages taken principally from the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies and from the Clarinet Concerto. After discussing the variety of ways and contexts in which these modulations unfold – modulation to a remote key; non-functional modulation; modal interchange and polymodality; mobile pitches and oscillating macroharmony; superimposed scales; and, fluctuating collection modulation – I conclude that Nielsen has a tendency to modulate flatwards at the local level. My approach is informed by Dmitri Tymoczko’s A Geometry of Music: Harmony and Counterpoint in the Extended Common Practice (2011).

Mixing with Mozart: Aesthetics and Tradition in Helmut Lachenmann's Accanto

Accanto (1975–6), for clarinettist and orchestra, constitutes a turn towards historical reflection in the work of the distinguished German composer Helmut Lachenmann, providing a meeting point for the practitioner and the theorist. This article examines how Accanto's dialogue with Mozart's Clarinet Concerto relates to topics such as recording conventions, performance practices, and compositional trends, particularly in the 1970s. It also demonstrates how Lachenmann's conception of musical material is rooted in an understanding of the Western art music tradition, especially with regard to the issue of the ‘language-character’ of music. In doing so, it investigates Lachenmann's aesthetics of beauty in connection with performance practices, sociological models of musical subjectivity, and Adorno's understanding of tradition. In general, the article argues that compositional practice in Accanto is shaped in response to the situation of classical music, especially in the 1970s.