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Prism: New Works for Clarinet

Mark Simpson, clarinet & basset clarinet
Ian Buckle, piano

NMC D139

D139 Cover

  • Mark Simpson won BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2006 when he was 17 years old.


  • Mark is currently a Music undergraduate at St Catherine's College, Oxford University.


  • His piece Lov(escape), which Simpson wrote for himself to play at the Young Musician semifinal, was also a winner of the Guardian/BBC Proms Young Composers competition in 2006.



    • This recital of new pieces for clarinet and basset clarinet, includes works by Mark-Anthony Turnage, Emily Howard, Gary Carpenter, Patrick Nunn, Kenneth Hesketh along with Mark Simpson's Lov(escape).

    Mark Simpson writes … When I was asked to perform Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in 2008 with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, it was expected that I would play the work on a modern-day basset clarinet.   Having purchased one and used it in performance, I wasn't happy to leave it sat idly gathering dust in its case.   In my eyes the basset clarinet is an exciting enhancement of the standard soprano clarinet, and its logical development: its lower range gives it a subtler and richer sonority than the soprano clarinet.

    The works on this disc are a culmination of five years of actively working with and commissioning composers.   My aim during this period was to develop the repertoire for the basset clarinet, and also provide a platform for composers in whose work I was interested and believed in; I was able to develop these relationships through the opportunities that followed my winning BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2006.


    TRACK LISTING

    01. GARY CARPENTER: MARKING TIME - 8'47
          for basset clarinet and piano

    02. KENNETH HESKETH: POINT FORMS - 11'46
          for basset clarinet and piano

          GAVIN HIGGINS: THREE BROKEN LOVE SONGS
          for basset clarinet and piano
    03. '…Two bottles of wine later…' - 4'20
    04. 'Three's a crowd' - 3'57
    05. Love Hurts - 4'19

    06. EMILY HOWARD: MASQUERADE - 9'57
          for basset clarinet and piano

    07. DAVID HORNE: CHIME - 6'09
          for basset clarinet and piano

    08. PATRICK NUNN: PRISM - 8'39
          for basset clarinet and piano

          STEPHEN PRATT: SHORT SCORE
          for clarinet and piano
    09. I. - 3'03
    10. II. Playful, fast! - 1'29
    11. III. - 3'37
    12. IV. With abandon! - 2'03

    13. MARK SIMPSON: LOV(ESCAPE) - 3'55
          for clarinet and piano

    14. MARK-ANTHONY TURNAGE: CRADLE SONG - 3'28
          for clarinet and piano


    NMC Recordings are distributed in Australia by
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