Review
During the COVID-19
pandemic, having read Poem for the Day and Clemency Burton-Hill’s Year
of Wonder, John Macfarlane suddenly had an inspiring thought:
“How would it be if I were to put together a Clarinet Piece for the Day?”
And so it came to pass...
Before me lies the
brilliant result:
A book consisting of some 400 pages. Beautifully bound, luxury paper, and a
very clear, easy-to-read arrangement of the material. After the introduction, a
full-scale calendar is presented from page 11 onwards, with a different
clarinet piece for every single day.
My advice? Just read, listen and then continue tomorrow!
John Macfarlane, a
physician and clarinettist, is a well-read man. His extensive library contains
many books on music, history of music and musicology, as well as instrumentology.
In addition to a large number of scores, he also has an impressive collection of
clarinet sheet music.
What a joy it must be to be able to browse in there. John very clearly did so himself
and to my delight he did not get stuck in the pile of pieces produced by a Mozart
or a Von Weber. He clearly went a great deal further and selected for his Clarinet
Almanac many a gem of great beauty that can be found in the vast repertoire
that is available.
For anyone who loves clarinet music, this book will be a delight. All 366 works are described in an extremely catchy manner. In a pleasant, sometimes humorous writing style, John connects factual knowledge and dates with the selected musical works, persons and anecdotes. While reading, you will be left with a smile on your face time and time again, longing for the following day.
With a sense of time, we can generally give history a place. When dates of composers, clarinet works or events are known, they may well have found their way into the calendar. If no work could be found, however, the writer applies other methods. His choice is then determined by genre, acoustic or textual properties, or the general sentiment characteristic of the period in question.
Most of the calendar
days in the Almanac are filled with classical works, solos, duets,
chamber music and orchestral works; anything is possible, as long as the main
instrument is the clarinet.
For enthusiasts, there is even the occasional day of jazz or klezmer.
The British repertoire features prominently in this work, but to my surprise there are also two ‘Dutch days’ featuring Jurriaan Andriessen and Rudolf Escher.
The names of all the composers included in the Almanac (245) can be found in the Index at the back of the book. Unfortunately, a list of other parties mentioned in the various entries, including those of the clarinettists, is missing, however.
All in all, it wasn't my intention to begin with, but within days of embarking on this project I had literally devoured the book. A better description than this I cannot think of. This is simply how captivating it was. A unique clarinet repertoire reference book that is an absolute must for any music lover.
Pierre Woudenberg, June 2023
[English translation by Katja ter Brugge]
Emeritus Professor Clarinet, The Royal Conservatoire, The Hague
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