McGill-Chien Duo Makes Recording Debut

courtesy of Naxos of America

San Francisco readers may be familiar with clarinetist Anthony McGill, even though his “day job” is Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic. He came here to visit almost exactly a month ago as guest artist in the Uncovered series curated by the Catalyst Quartet for San Francisco Performances. The occasion was a performance of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Opus 10 clarinet quintet in F-sharp minor, which this group had previously recorded for a series of albums, also entitled Uncovered, produced by Azica Records.

When I wrote about that performance, I began as follows:

It is a bit hard to listen to this quintet without thinking of Johannes Brahms Opus 115 quintet in B minor. Both are in a minor key, which evokes a variety of emotions of introspection. It would not surprise me to learn that the Brahms quintet inspired Coleridge-Taylor to undertake his Opus 10. Nevertheless, if there are “reflections” of Brahms in Coleridge-Taylor’s score, they are the reflections of the many facets of a finely-cut gem.

As a result, I came away more than a little curious about how McGill would approach the Brahms repertoire. It turns out that McGill had recorded Opus 115 with the Pacifica Quartet for an album released by Cedille Records in May of 2014.

Exactly a month ago Cedille released its latest album of McGill, and the new release also accounts for Brahms’ interest in the clarinet towards the end of his life. The release is a duo album of McGill performing with pianist Gloria Chien. The two of them present Brahms’ two Opus 120 sonatas, the first in the key of F minor and the second in E-flat major. Since this accounts for less than 45 minutes of music, the album also includes “before” and “after” selections. The earliest work is Carl Maria von Weber’s Opus 48 “Grand Duo Concertant” in three movements. The most recent is Jessie Montgomery’s duo “Peace,” which she composed in 2020 for either violin or clarinet and piano.

I have to say that I have long had considerable interest in not just the Brahms catalog in general but also those works he composed late in his life. Some readers may know (perhaps through reading my articles) that, at the age of 57, following the premiere of his Opus 111 (second) string quintet in 1890, Brahms thought it was time to retire. Then he happened to listen to performances by the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, and in 1891 he composed both the Opus 114 clarinet trio in A minor and the Opus 115 clarinet quintet in B minor. This led to what some inclined to prankishness have called “the potato chip effect.” Brahms could not composed just one (or even) two pieces of chamber music for Mühlfeld; and in 1894 he concluded his “streak” with the two Opus 120 sonatas.

Back when I played clarinet in high school, these pieces were all beyond my grasp. Having gotten over any obsession with playing them, I can now sit back and enjoy listening to them without any pangs of frustration. One result is that I have already accumulated a variety of recordings, each of which holds my attention in its own characteristic way; and those recordings have supplemented a generous number of opportunities to listen to these pieces in performance. In that context I have to say that McGill is up against a lot of competition, and I am not yet sure what impact he will have on my listening practices.

On the other hand my interest in Montgomery’s work has been slowly but surely increasing. The only track on this album that is shorter than “Peace” is that of the Allegretto grazioso (third) movement of the first clarinet sonata. Without succumbing to the repetitive structures that characterized minimalism at the end of the last century, Montgomery seems to know how to express volumes with limited resources in a short period of time. To paraphrase Buckminster Fuller, she knows how to say more and more with less and less. I look forward to encountering “Peace” in performance in either the clarinet or the violin version.