Clarinet Blog: History, Technique, and Performance

One morning in September 2024, I received a WhatsApp message from the composer Esteban D'Antona saying: "Hi Gabriel, I've just finished composing a piece for solo clarinet and orchestra. It's a suite in four movements (Cha-cha-cha, Bolero, Guajira, and Salsa). I'm sending you the score and a digital recording for you to review. If you like it, I'd like you to premiere it with the orchestra."

Composed in 1943 by the English composer John Ireland (1872–1962), the Fantasy-Sonata is regarded as one of the twentieth century’s masterpieces of the English clarinet repertoire, and also as Ireland’s most significant chamber work.

When I was very young, I was introduced to Arthur Honegger Sonatina for clarinet and piano on a recording by clarinetist Stanley Drucker, and it always appealed to me. Two years ago, I decided to study it for recording, a project I was finally able to complete in July 2021, along with the track recorded by pianist Mohamed Shams. Above is the video of this recording, which I enjoyed so much. Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) was a prolific composer of Swiss parents

I first heard Hindemith's Sonata for clarinet and piano on the album "20th Century Classics for Clarinet and Piano",

Two months ago, in March 2023, my colleague and great Peruvian clarinetist Marco Antonio Mazzini showed me his latest video, where he played a piece for alto clarinet and piano that I had never heard before. It was Ordner Seg—also known in English as “It’ll Be Alright”—composed by the Norwegian tuba virtuoso Øystein Baadsvik.The original version of Ordner Seg is written for tuba and piano, and in his video Marco used the excellent backing track recorded by pianist Rena Hashim

Notes, video and sheet music of the Zamba for clarinet and piano by Viviana Danon, dedicated to Gabriel Blasberg.

Notes, short analysis and video of the beautiful Nino Rota Sonata for clarinet and piano.

In just a few days (September 20, 2022), I will have the immense pleasure of performing a work that I truly love, though it is not among the most well-known pieces in the repertoire: the Clarinet Concerto Op. 36 in E-flat major by Czech composer Franz Krommer (1759–1831), whose original Czech name was František Vincenc Kramář . I had studied this concerto during my teenage years with a piano reduction , and now I will finally be able to perform it with an orchestra—as it wa