John Dankworth has said that he has written, in his Suite for
Emma, "the music I would like to hear Emma Johnson play."
Suite for Emma is a five movement work written in a very
old fashioned style with a bit of jazz thrown in, and it takes
itself very seriously indeed. I cannot warm to this kind of music
for it has no personality of its own – it's all far too reminiscent
of too many other composers – especially, in this case, of the
"cow pat" school, and the music is ultra-safe – never
daring to try anything out of the ordinary. This would make a
really good suite for young clarinetists at school who are looking
for something slightly different to play at their end of term
concert, but as a fully fledged work for the concert hall, it
has far too much competition, and so much of that competition
is better music. The Picture of Jeannie is a brief set
of variations on Stephen Foster's I dream of Jeannie with the
light brown hair. It's very cute and clever but with nothing
to grab one’s attention. I find it odd that as Dankworth, as a
clarinetist himself, seems unable to vary the tonal palette of
his own instrument for these compositions; it all sounds the same
in its limited tone production, colour and emotional range.
The Bernstein and Copland are much better pieces
in every respect – and two of the works weren't even conceived
for the clarinet!! Bernstein's Sonata is his opus one
and a very assured piece it is. In two compact movements it
has a lot to say and it says it succinctly and then moves on.
Not a note is wasted in this work – there simply isn't time!
The second movement shows exactly how a little jazz can really
perk up a work which is already rich in rhythm – this is one
of the many things missing in Dankworth's pieces – and the music
really lives! Bernstein could have been a significant composer
for the concert hall, but, in reality, his talents lay in front
of an orchestra – but here, and in his Jeremiah Symphony
which followed this work, we can see just what might have been.
Chamber music isn’t what one would think of when
the name of Aaron Copland is mentioned. The western ballets,
the Symphonies, the Piano Variations and some of the shorter
orchestral works all readily comer to mind, but chamber pieces?
Copland wrote an handful of works for chamber ensembles; the
early Vitebsk, for piano trio, the serial Piano Quartet
- a work of rare beauty - and the Nonet for Strings seem
to get more recordings than live performances, and, given the
contemporary repertoire for violin and piano it is odd that
Copland's Violin Sonata doesn't get played more often
than it does. It is a lovely, lyrical, work, full of his open
air style, with lots of rhythmic drive, and the kind of laid-back
Americana we find in many of his works. Nearly 40 years after
writing the piece, Copland reworked it for clarinet and piano
and it makes a very fine Clarinet Sonata! Nowhere is
one conscious of the fact that this is not original clarinet
music – it simply falls so easily on the wind instrument. There
is a lot of long breathed melody in this work and this is exactly
the kind of thing which works so well on the clarinet, and that
is one of the reasons why this version of the work is such a
winner. Emma Johnson and John Lenehan realise the full stature
of this work and give it a truly inspiring performance, it's
worth the price of the disk for this performance alone. The
little Nocturne was written in the 1920s as a companion
piece to a Ukelele Serenade for violin and piano. Like
the Violin Sonata, with its long melodies and distinctly
bluesy sound, this makes perfect clarinet music. Johnson relishes
the long lines really sings as if her man had done gone and
left her.
Some reservations then; the playing is superb
throughout – how could it not be when two such exciting and
talented young players are at work – but the choice of repertoire
left me unhappy for, as stated above, the Dankworth pieces,
worthy though they are, are not in the same class as either
the Bernstein or the Copland works. I can understand Johnson
wishing to record these pieces for they were created for her,
but sometimes one has to stand back and view the music to see
if it really can hold its own in the context in which you wish
to place it.
Bob
Briggs
Emma Johnson (clarinet); John Lenehan (piano) 
