Mark Van de Wiel – Strange Loops: Clarinet Quintets (CD)
Product Details
Anna Clyne's work sits at the intersection of minimalist process and emotional immediacy, making her one of the most compelling voices in contemporary orchestral composition. Ruth Gipps, long underrepresented despite a substantial catalog, has seen meaningful revival in recent years as ensembles dig deeper into overlooked British modernists. Weber's Quintet remains a cornerstone of the clarinet chamber repertoire, and hearing all three in a single program traces a through-line of writing that treats the clarinet as a genuine protagonist, not a guest.
Strange Loops presents clarinettist Mark Van de Wiel with colleagues from the Philharmonia Orchestra in three works spanning over two centuries of chamber music. The album centres on the first recording of Anna Clyne's Strange Loops, written in 2020 and exploring repeating and transforming musical patterns. It is paired with Ruth Gipps's Rhapsody, a single-movement work highlighting the clarinet's lyrical and colouristic qualities, and Carl Maria von Weber's virtuosic Clarinet Quintet, composed for Heinrich Baermann. Recorded at Garsington Studios in 2024, the programme reflects van de Wiel's longstanding commitment to both contemporary and established clarinet repertoire.
UPC: 635212100820
Label: Signum Classics
Release Date: 8.7.26
Format: CD