Going into the free concert at Baruch, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sometimes free means poor quality, however, that was not the case. Mr. Charles Neidich and Mr. Joshua Grunmann have been playing together for years, and it was quite obvious. There were no mistakes in either of their playing and it was so fluid that you would think it was a recording that had been edited to sound perfectly in sync. I did not know what the program would consist of, so I did not have the chance to listen to anything before I attended. Upon arrival, we were handed papers that listed the program.
The first piece was called Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, op. 28 by Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Having never heard of Weinberg before, I listened intently. Neidich told us that Weinberg’s parents were killed by the Nazis in World War II. Because of this, Weinberg fled eastward, composing music all along. In listening to the performance, one could almost taste the raw emotion; it was palpable. There were a lot of crescendos and a lot of slight tempo change, or rubato. It seemed as if Weinberg was doing his best to keep everything inside of him until he could not handle it anymore and burst out in a fit of hysteria in every direction. Although much easier to portray a hysterical fit with a full orchestra, Weinberg did a fantastic job at making good use of only the clarinet and piano.
The second piece was called Threnos by Charles Neidich himself, which was for solo clarinet. He said the title was Greek for Tears and that he wrote the work in 2005 in remembrance of the tsunami victims. The piece started off slow and seemingly all over the place, then towards the middle came together for just a few short measures, before returning to its hectic state. Personally, I didn’t enjoy it very much, but I know that his intentions were good and he had an emotional connection with the piece and that’s all I can ask for when listening to music.
The third piece was titled Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, op. 120, no. 2 by Johannes Brahms. Born in 1833 in Hamburg, Germany, Brahms was one of the leading composers of the Romantic period. He was a virtuosic pianist who spent most of his career in Vienna. Brahms is said to have been a perfectionist who left many works torn up and undone because he felt that they were insufficient. In his late 50s, Brahms decided to retire from making music. He felt that he had composed everything that was inside of him and that he had nothing left. A few short months later, he was introduced to an amazing clarinet player named Richard Muhlfeld and was inspired to returned to making music. He wrote two sonatas for clarinet and piano. In listening to the second sonata, I found that it was well put together. Starting out slow, it seemed as though the piece might stay in a basic range and make you fall asleep. However, after a few more measures you realize that this is no ordinary piece of music; this is Brahms. Even though there are only two instruments, the color and texture are lovely. The piano sounds like colorful raindrops dancing as they hit the leaves on tropical trees and the clarinet sounds like a beautiful butterfly as it flutters around swiftly avoiding the rain. The duo seems to be taking two different paths but yet, are still heading in the same directions. Complimentary and eloquent are the two best words to describe such a composition.
As an artist, I will never say that any one particular piece of music is bad. However, like everyone else, I do have preferences. Brahms’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, op. 120, no. 2 takes the cake this time around. Such a great composer should never stop making such beautiful music. Once a musician, always a musician. There is no getting away from it. I’m glad I got the chance to learn about all of these great artists/composers and even more glad that Brahms came out of retirement to grace us all with some more fantastic music.
