Double Bass Clarinet Concerto by Jonathan Russell

[Juliowolfgang]

Does somebody knows when the composer was born? Thank you.

[jonrussell20]

@Juliowolfgang 1979

[happydays8989]

I LOVE the bass clarinet. the sounds is so perfect and makes me wish i could practice mine = /

[theblueTACO]

Oh. My. God. I've NEVER heard notes that high come out of a bass!!! Unless they were completely unwanted and unintentional, of course!!! It's so awesome to see more and more appreciation for the best instrument ever created. Love it! Where can I get the score for this? I must have it!!!

[Jimbothenoob]

This is amazing!

[Starmast3r]

This song just manifests the awesomeness that is the bass clarinet.

[venskus2009]

yaaaahhhhh

[EFJify]

HOLY~ !! I have 2 more days to master this instrument (bass clarinet) which I was given barely 2 months to learn and master (I have been a Bb clarinetist ever since I joined band - for 6 years - and it's the first time I touched such a huge instrument). And it depresses me to no end listening to professionals, hoping to be just like them T.T

[ashleybrown013]

SEXY BASS CLARINET<3

[73zito]

I too play clarinet bass. I love it!

[mariebel89]

oh my....i love this....this is so beautiful!!!!! i want to play again!...

[sorrowfulwarriorMcQ]

OH MY GOD ITS SO HIGH!!!!

[jonhadas]

What are the names of the soloists?? are they playing Selmer or Buffet?

[SFCCO]

@jonhadas: Jonathan Russell, the composer of the work, is one of the soloist, Jeff Anderle is the other. They refer to themselves as the Sqwonk Duo.

[venskus2009]

@jonhadas i dont know the name, but those are buffets..

[lookwoman98]

dear god, the high notes, THE HIGH NOTES!

[bassSoloij]

I'm getting my guitar out for this! :D

[TheJLC91]

where can I find the scores for this piece?

[SFCCO]

@TheJLC91 You'll need to contact the composer, Jonathan Russell, directly.

[tykalina]

This is beautiful! Love it!

[jimbojr09]

This sounds like the music to an alien movie. I heard this first on WRXP and loved it immediately.

[laurenlovesbass]

any song dedicated to bass clarinets always sound awesome.

why dont composers take the hint and MAKE MORE OF THEM!

[RaptorShadow13]

Where was this performed?

[SFCCO]

In San Francisco by the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra at Old First Concerts.

[firedemon96]

Amazingly Beautiful.

[albuz88]

wow i love that..it's amazing

[novid23]

i love the sound

[cj1lorenz]

so beautiful. i want to play this now

[makemrmoney]

haha i play bass clarinet =)

[treeburner]

Woo i play too =] instrument is awesome

[d7madkri]

amazing :O

[ajdicks]

why does SO much modern music invoke images of aliens, robots, zombies, or apes invading the earth? there is so little humanity or emotion of any kind in this piece.

[greengreen31]

The idea of modern is to create chromatic and dramatic whirlwinds of orchestration; its intention is to "crazy" if you will as it is something periods have never done before. So then you say "there is so little emotion" - I'm not complaining to you that you don't like it, believe me, a lot of people hate the modern period, but there is certainly emotion :P

[cl7player]

A lot of "modern" music sounds like film score/TV music because the same composer has written for both (e.g., Philip Glass) or it actually is film score music, or it easily could be, like this piece, which seems to be in search of a film to be a score to. :) Actually, this is quite "approachable' as they say, for modern music, and I kind of like it. It evokes the original Star Trek series for me.

[dimsimlord]

Don't condemn music if you aren't cultured enough to appreciate it.

[trailblazer225]

How can you say that? The fact that this invokes images of anything to you means that it must have some kind of emotion. It creates an atmosphere of impending doom and despair perhaps or fear.

[LODragonJoe]

OMG I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Bass Clarinets, menacing!

[BCcL01]

WOW!!!

[sanfranciscomaniac]

Jon!! Great piece!!

[Kankuro000123]

O.O this is epic

anyone know what key it's in?

[InsaneSparrow]

I doubt if there is one at all :P some pieces are like that.

[skankychicken]

that placed is packed!!!!

[Kubalivre]

Damn, I had an idea similar to this. Congratulations on pulling it off!

[hiimdavid92]

This is hardcore Bass Clarinet Music!  Really good too!

[gothrowsome2a]

hmm, i find this song a bit easy, but good job anyways!

[Metalcritic]

A bit easy?

I'd like to see you try and play this piece with half the skill of these players you pompous douche.

[Autobotsunited]

Agreed.

[Leomerya12]

Metalcritic and Autobotsunited are the pompous ones.

You were right to give your opinion and compliment the players.

[crashcourtney]

this si amazing, it's so different and neat.

[KeilvenGodiva]

good job!

5 stars! :]

[weronete]

Where I might obtain works for bass clarinet solo or bass clarinet and piano???

[ChunkehMonkehxD]

Sounds really good :D im a pianist, so im not into orchestra events

[ChunkehMonkehxD]

Well ones with out pianos =[

[pumpkin091]

oh wow, 10 minutes long!

bass clarinet pwns. :)

[SFCCO]

It is actually closer to 15 minutes, the full version of this performance is on the SFCCO's website; see our December 7, 2007 concert page.

[shlbegirl]

Bass clarinet pwnz :)

i play

[tnekf94]

same here

bass clarient pride XD

[austinon24s]

i play both clarinet and bass clarinet :]

[KiheleBoy]

hell yea! bes instrument by far

[Gandalfgrayhame]

some one keeps squeaking lol

[SFCCO]

Actually no one is "squeaking" there are lots of high altissimo parts written into the music. All the unusuall sounds are written into the music and full controlled by the performers. This is modern music.

[KJaeckel92]

What brand is your bass clarinet?

[SFCCO]

Please note it is the orchresta not the composer that posting this performance. For questions for the composer please track him down on the net: Jonathan Russell music

[shipyaad]

they're both playing on Buffet prestige bass clarinets with the low C.

[dickdona]

Interesting and v. modern towit. I'd like to hear it live. But is someone sqeekin' a lot or is that part of it? Good on ye Jon. Keep it up.

[sutphoe]

I WANT TO PLAY BASS!!!

Ilove this instrument

[elite862]

i'm not sure how i feel about this lol. the idea of bass clarinet with orchestra is weird enough, let alone bass clarinet duet with orchestra.

however, this is a neat piece and the players are pretty decent.

[vacuumlover1]

uhm theres a bass or alto clarinet in EVERY orchestra so that shows you have never even seen one

[elite862]

lol. i'm a clarinet performance major and i play soprano and bass in orchestra. i am well aware that there are bass clarinets IN orchestra, but i said bass clarinet WITH orchestra.

and i have never heard of a piece written for alto clarinet in an orchestra setting (and no, i'm not saying that one doesn't exist).

and bass clarinet is not a very common instrument in orchestra. it didn't even show up in orchestras until the late 19th century and really wasn't popular until the 20th century.

[philidor2005]

The only orchestral work that I know of that calls for the alto clarinet in E-flat is Stravinsky's Threni, which also calls for Sarrusophone. Mozart and Richard Strauss (and myself!) used the basset horn in orchestra, which is a type of alto clarinet in F. But yes, it's rare!!!

[aero145]

This is simply great! Bass clarinet is for sure my favourite instrument, and I'm proud to say I play it and have been for the past five years. :)

Bass clarinet FTW!

This piece FTW!

[clarinettospazienza]

hey this piece sounds really cool, i like it a lot. i hear a bit of steve reich in this. :) i think this would be a cool piece to play.

[2654706jr]

GOOD

[animelover00094]

I play bass!

[owjunhao]

can i ask how old are the both soloist?

[Chankalizer21]

whoaa i really want this piece

where can I get this piece??

please someone message mee

[markvilover]

this is a really cool piece!!!

[hobbitstalker]

bass clarinets for the win!

i'm proud to say i can play one *w00t*

[marla905]

i play bass cl!!!

[bugstooth]

Thanking you!

[bugstooth]

who is playing in this video? good work!

[SFCCO]

the soloist are "Sqwonk Duo", Jeff Anderle and Jon Russell (the composer of the work). They have a website for more information.

[Doctroid]

Who wrote the description of this video? It sounds like it's the composer but he or she refers to "Jon" as a separate person. I'm confused...

[SFCCO]

The description came from the program notes from the original concert, the composer wrote the original notes.

[Doctroid]

Then who is the "Jon" the composer (Jon Russell) is referring to?

[Doctroid]

Oh, wait, I get it, program notes written by Jon in the third person. Never mind.