Clarinettist Robert Plane is delighted to present his new album ‘Elsewhere: Commissions for Clarinet, volume 2’, which will be released in August.
This album brings together solo and chamber works for clarinet, commissioned or premiered by Rob over the course of his distinguished career. Expressing his excitement about the process of collaborating with composers, Rob writes “there is no greater musical thrill than when a work you are about to premiere first pops into the inbox (or in the case of Sally Beamish’s Tom’s Turn, in 1992, through the letter box!). However familiar with a composer’s existing work one may be, it is always exciting to discover the twists and turns that their musical language has taken in the intervening months or years.”
The collection of works on this album celebrates Rob’s exceptional musicianship and tireless championship of contemporary works, as well as the calibre of his circle of collaborators. Widely respected as one the UK’s outstanding clarinettists, Rob’s rich solo and chamber career has seen him give the world premieres of new works by many of today’s leading composers, both in concert and on disc.
‘Elsewhere’ features works by four unique compositional voices, Judith Bingham, David Matthews, Piers Hellawell and Sally Beamish. Bingham’s clarinet quintet Elsewhere was composed for Rob and the Elias String Quartet, with whom he has recorded the work for this collection. Two other works by Beamish, Hodge, Dr. Johnson’s Cat with tenor James Gilchrist and the clarinet concerto ‘Barnaby Rudge’ appear on the album. David Matthews’ A Song for Barrie, written in memory of distinguished documentary maker Barrie Gavin, sees Rob alongside pianist Tim Horton, with whom he premiered the work at the Presteigne Festival in 2025. The duo also appear together in Piers Hellawell’s Woodsmoke, while The Rising of Sirius gives voice to Rob’s longstanding collaborative relationship with the Gould Piano Trio. In contrast, Tom’s Turn by Sally Beamish appears here in a re-worked version of her original work for solo clarinet, played as canon for two clarinets, the multi-tracked version of which is presented on this disc.
‘Elsewhere’ will be released on 1st August by Resonus Classics, and follows ‘Isotonic: Commissions for Clarinet’, which was released in 2023 to critical acclaim.
