The CD takes its title from the famous piece by Darius Milhaud, which listeners usually hear in the versions for two pianos or for saxophone and orchestra. On this successful CD, however, the clarinet is the solo instrument. In two solo pieces you can also admire the art of the celebrated horn player Radek Baborák. (Paul Dukas, Otmar Schoeck)

Milhaud • Dukas • Busoni • Schoeck • Copland
Scaramouche
and other concertos for wind instruments

"Aaron Copland (1900-1990) as both composer and teacher was an acknowledged representative of American music. His compositions were influenced by symphonic jazz and the folk music of the New World, including the Wild West. He wrote the Clarinet Concerto in 1948 for jazzman Benny Goodman. The work ranges from lyricism via a virtuoso cadenza to a rondo finale influenced by jazz and South American dance music.
Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) was one of Les Six. He was an admirer of Stravinsky and like him wrote for the Ballets Russes; he was musically influenced by his stay in Brazil and by jazz, and even set a catalogue of agricultural machinery to music. He wrote the full-length opera Christopher Columbus as well as light, ironic ten-minute mini-operas. The brilliant, bravura and clownish Scaramouche (1937), inspired by the Commedia dell'arte figure, was originally scored for two pianos.
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924), the son of an Italian clarinetist and a German pianist, was a pioneer of progressive music in Germany, and attracted attention with his Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music and his call for the formation of "Young Classicism". He admired Bach's clavier music and had an influence on the succeeding generation both as a virtuoso and a teacher. He did not compose only for piano but also wrote operas. His Clarinet Concertino dates from 1918.
Paul Dukas (1865-1935), the French composer and teacher, is perhaps best known for the symphonic scherzo The Sorcerer's Apprentice. He was influenced by Wagner and later also by Richard Strauss and Debussy. His rich musical style, displayed in what is a small compositional oeuvre on account of his self-criticism, is a blend of late Romanticism and Impressionism. The Villanelle for solo French horn, originally scored also for piano, was written in 1906.
Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957), a Swiss conductor and composer, pupil of Max Reger, wrote many choral compositions being also a choir master, and also composed several operas, symphonic and chamber works, instrumental concertos, and about 400 songs. They are Late Romantic in style, enriched by expressionist details and the techniques of modem music. He wrote the Concerto for French Horn in 1951."
© Petr Veber 1997

Darius Milhaud
Scaramouche
(ed. Salabert)
1. I. Vif (3:02)
2. II. Modéré (3:56)
3. III. Brazileira (2:03)
Paul Dukas
4. Villanelle pour cor et orchestre (6:59)
(ed. Durand)
Ferruccio Busoni
5. Concertino per Clarinetto ed un Orchestrina (10:18)
(ed. Breitkopf)
Othmar Schoeck
Konzert für Horn und Streichorchester, op. 65
(ed. Boosey and Hawkes)
6. I. Lebhaft energisch bewegt (6:14)
7. II. Ruhig fliessend (6:25)
8. III. Rondo. Ausserst schnell und leicht (4:34)
Aaron Copland
9. Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra with Piano and Harp (16:40)
(ed. Boosey and Howkes)
Total time: 60:55

Ludmila Peterková, clarinet (1-3, 5, 9)
Radek Baborák, French horn (4, 6-8)
Eduard Spiell, piano (9)
Hana Müllerová, harp (9)
Prague Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra
Jiří Bělohlávek

Recorded at the Domovina Studio, Prague, from 28 to 29 August and from 31 October to 1 November 1997
Recording director: Milan Puklicky
Recording engineer: Václav Roubal
Sound assistant: Karel Soukenik
Editor: Jiří	Štilec
Producer: Jana Černá
Made in the Czech Republic
(P) 1997 Supraphon
Supraphon a.s. • Palackeho 1, 112 99 Prague 1
SU 3348-2 031