Robert Plane - Holbrooke: Clarinet Chamber Music (2015)

After the London premiere of the symphonic poem The Raven the critics sang ecstatic hymns of praise to a work luxuriating in unique orchestral colors and to its young composer Josef Holbrooke (1878-1958). This breakthrough brought him renown as an innovative and original contemporary composer, one obliged to the musical language of the late 19th c. with its primacy of expressive elements and constant quest for new tonal effects amidst rich and refined coloring. Both programmatic and impressionistic, this nine-work Holbrooke chamber music overview features three first recordings.