The collection is comprised of Roma­nian Rhapsody No. 1 by George Enescu, Hungarian Dance #3 by Franz Liszt, Slavonic Dances #6, 7, and 8 by Anton Dvorak, and Hungarian Dances #1, 3, and 10 by Johannes Brahms. Both the clarinet and bassoon players must perform at a high level, and also must be sensitive to each other. Because of the nature of the orchestral works, these transcriptions re­quire advanced use of tempo changes, fer­matas, accelerando, and ritardando. The players must be capable of following the score, able to cue each other and follow cues, and be sensitive to each other's mu­sical nuances.

One may miss the lush orchestral sound, but Gibson manages to keep the melodies of the pieces intact, and the pieces, as a whole, very recognizable since the form of the duets remains true to the orches­tral versions. Gibson omits sections of the music when the texture becomes too thick, complex, or when a section repeats itself more than once. The lines are not true to the instruments-there are lines that are played by the clarinet in the or­chestra that Gibson gives to the bassoon and vice versa. That is not always the case, however, because in the Liszt, the cadenza is still played by the clarinet. Some of the musical passages are technically difficult because in the orchestral versions these passages are carried by the violin section. And the transcription of these duets is not always true to the original key of the or­chestral versions.

Some of the pieces work very well with two instruments because of the duets that occur within the wind section of the orchestra, Brahms Hungarian Dance #3 in particular. Slavonic Dance #8 by Anton Dvorak may be perhaps the most difficult to arrange for two players because of the orchestral texture and the sheer volume of the piece. Gibson, of necessity, omits some of the harmonies and secondary melodies, but still manages to retain the important melody.

Review of the Michel Yost Concerto in The Clarinet, magazine of the International Clarinet Association

The first movement has a 50-measure tutti introduction in which the clarinetist has the option to play. The clarinet part consists of simple rhythms: half, quarter, and 16th-note passages, with an occasional 32nd-note flourish ending on a high note­ - the highest note in the piece, contained in this movement, is a high register E. The lengthy solo passages are interspersed with sufficient measures of rest, giving the clar­inetist an ample amount of time to recover before playing again. The end of the first movement includes an extensive cadenza.

The clarinetist plays the entire sec­ond movement with quarter and eighth rests scattered throughout. The melodies introduced in this movement are delight­ful, and there is ornamentation provided by the composer. The pianist finishes the movement with an eight-measure transi­tion into the third movement.

The "Rondo" is based on a pleasant, happy tune that is light and fun to listen to. There are time signature changes from duple meter to triple meter (2/4 to 3/8 to 2/4) and some technical sections that would require diligent practice.

This is a delightful piece. As clarinet­ists, we are always excited to play early Classical period music, and to find mu­sic originally written for the instrument is wonderful. If one can reconcile how to play the part endurance-wise, this is a worthwhile piece to play. It is a good solo for high intermediate level to beginning advanced players, although the 32nd­ notes and change of time signature in the third movement would afford challenges to the intermediate player.

Measure numbers are included in both the clarinet and piano parts. The piano part is in a laminated cover that is spiral bound - always an advantage to the pia­nist as the part will lie flat when opened. The notes are printed in a font that is easily read on the staves, however there are an in­consistent number of staves on each page of the clarinet part. Pages include from 8-11 staves per page, and the pages with more staves are difficult to read and some of the notes appear to be squished together toward the end of the line. The piano part, on the other hand, is very consistent-four staves per page. The only time when this is not the case is after the clarinet cadenza (the clarinet part is not included) and the staves appear to be closer to each other which is harder on the eye.

A typed copy of the original manuscript version of the clarinet part is included in the back of the piano score. This part in­cludes original articulations, tempi, and dynamic markings and it is helpful to have this part to reference in order to determine the composer's intent. Although markings were not plentiful in the Classical period, it gives us an idea of the freedom per­formers had in expressing the music. John Gibson's interest and contribution to the clarinet literature is appreciated. Yost and Vogel collaborated on 14 concertos - this reviewer would like to see more!   - Alice Meyer March 2009 issue of The Clarinet magazine

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