Bruce: Gumboots / Brahms: Clarinet Quintet

Bruce: Gumboots / Brahms: Clarinet Quintet cover $35.00 Low Stock add to cart

DAVID BRUCE / JOHANNES BRAHMS
Bruce: Gumboots / Brahms: Clarinet Quintet
Julian Bliss (clarinet) / Carducci String Quartet

[ Signum / CD ]

Release Date: Wednesday 1 June 2016

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Julian Bliss and the Carducci Quartet pair two highly contrasting works - Johannes Brahms's Clarinet Quintet and David Bruce's 'Gumboots'.

Written for bass clarinet and string quartet, David Bruce describes the origins of his work 'Gumboot's:

"... it was born out of the brutal labour conditions in South Africa under apartheid, in which black miners where chained together and wore gumboots (wellington boots) while they worked in the flooded gold mines, because it was cheaper for the owners to supply the boots than to drain the floodwater from the mine. Apparently slapping the boots and chains was used by the workers as a form of communication which was otherwise banned in the mine, and this later developed into a form of dance. If the examples of Gumboot Dancing available online are anything to go by, it is characterised by a huge vitality and zest for life. So this for me is a striking example of how something beautiful and life-enhancing can come out of something far more negative."

"Here's a double delight. First, an engaging new work which deserves a place in the chamber repertory; second, a passionate account of Brahms's Clarinet Quintet which can hold its head high against starrier competition…Bliss is in his element…for forthright Brahms and a toe-tapping new work, this is strongly recommended" Gramophone Magazine, July 2016

"The joyous rhythmic barrage of the finale could almost be out of a Falla ballet. Brahms's Op 115 Clarinet Quintet is an odd counterweight; Bliss and the Carducci Quartet offer a worthwhile, well-balanced performance with especial spark in the third movement." The Guardian, 12th May 2016 ***

Tracks:

Brahms:
Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

Bruce, D:
Gumboots