Perhaps they are not programmed as frequently as they deserve, but there is a broad Latin American repertoire for the solo clarinet with symphony orchestra. This repertoire, moreover, grows each year with the inclusion of new works. In this post, I present to you three concertos written in the last decade by prominent composers from Mexico, Brazil, and Chile.
The Mexican composer Javier Álvarez, who recently passed away, composed “Vendedor de ilusiones” in 2017, a concerto for clarinet and orchestra written for the Mexican clarinetist Fernando Domínguez and the Heredia Symphony Orchestra, with support from the Municipal Fund for Performing Arts and Music of Mérida (Yucatán). The orchestration, in addition to the solo clarinet, includes 2 flutes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 3 percussionists, piano, and strings. The work is articulated in 3 movements: (1) Ilusión en tiempo presente, (2) Metropasado, ri-tornillo y requesón, and (3) Futuro compuesto. The total duration is around 17 minutes.
The Brazilian composer Liduino Pitombeira wrote his Clarinet Concerto Op. 208 in 2016, dedicated to clarinetist Johnson Machado and the Claudio Santoro National Theatre Symphony Orchestra. The large orchestra accompanying the solo clarinet consists of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 3 percussionists, and strings. The work is divided into 3 movements: (1) Incelença, (2) Choro, and (3) Baião, and lasts around 16 minutes.
The National Editorial of Chile published in 2017 the Concerto for Clarinet and Strings by Chilean composer Carlos Zamora. Structured in 3 movements, with the traditional fast-slow-fast tempo alternation, this work has a duration of around 15 minutes. As its name indicates, the orchestra accompanying the solo clarinet consists only of string instruments.
This post is just the beginning of an exploration that we will continue later on this fascinating and yet little-explored repertoire, as evidenced by the scarcity of existing professional recordings.
Javier Asdrúbal Vinasco 