Various Composers - Clarinet Souvenirs [Kam/Golan]This recital is very much like yesterdays, except this time it's a Clarinet instead of Violin, even some of the pieces are the same, though most here are transcriptions, as there's not so much clarinet repertoire.
Sharon Kam was born in Israel, she's now 39, here's her Website.
I must admit that i liked tracks 1, 3, 6, 11-12, 15 & 18, but for the life of me i can't pick one that stands out from the rest, so i think i'll plump for track 18 'Apres Un Reve' by Faure [After A Dream], only because it's the only one which i can find an appropriate video for, 'Apres Un Reve' is of course a poem that Faure set to music to create a song, it's one of Faure's best, and here are the words,
In a slumber which held your image spellbound
I dreamt of happiness, passionate mirage
Your eyes were softer, your voice pure and sonorous
You shone like a sky lit up by the dawn
You called me and i left the earth
To run away with you towards the light
The skies opened their clouds for us
Unknown splendours, divine flashes glimpsed
Alas! alas! sad awakening from dreams
I call you, O night, give me back your lies
Return, return radiant
Return, O mysterious night
The piece starts off gentle with the piano, and the clarinet plays in the lower registers [0:00-0:51], creating a sense of mystery, then the clarinet plays higher and louder [0:54+], yet still the clarinet plays in deep sadness mode, and as the poem suggests, it ends on a sad note, of a dreamer wanting to return to the dream/afterlife where their lover is waiting, including right at the end, a delicious phrase on the piano, of a single tolling bell without the clarinet [2:29-2:39], a lovely little song turned clarinet lament.
Here's 'Apres Un Reve' being played by the Clarinet on YouTube.
