'A charming work that fizzes like the unwinding of clockwork toys.' The Times

Instrumentation

cl – pno – vln.vlc

Availability

Piano score and parts 0571518974 on sale

Programme Notes

Catch structures itself around various combinations of the four instruments. There are several games going on: at the start, the clarinet is the outsider, the other three are the unit, then, after a decoy entry, the clarinet takes the initiative. All four then play jovial ‘pig-in-the-middle’ with each other. The clarinet is then phased out leaving a sullen piano and cello, with interjections based on the clarinet’s original tune. This slower passage gradually mutates back into fast music, and this time the game is in earnest: the piano is squeezed out, only to lure the clarinet finally into the snare of its own music.

Thomas Adès

Reviews

'Adès’ textures are as clear and beguiling as ever.'
Seen and Heard International (Gavin Dixon), 7 November 2013

'Catch, a one-off tour de force.'
Financial Times (David Murray), 26 July 1994

'His music is arrestingly original… The theatrical element is written into the piece: a pianist, a cellist and a violinist, seated on stage, fend off the attempts of a wandering clarinettist to join them… All the efforts are repelled, until the work’s wistful yet quizzical ending… He has an engaging voice and audacious imagination.'
The New York Times (Anthony Tommasini), 27 February 1999
 
'The essence of the music is not technical difficulty, but a sense of unbuttoned fun with sinister undertow… the glittering cascade of notes tossed from instrument to instrument and the sumptuous melody stitched between them inhabit a world where every texture
seems freshly minted.'
The Guardian (Andrew Clements), 22 February 1999

Catch (Instrumental Quartet)

Thomas Adès

£40.00

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Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall (New York City, NY, USA)

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Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA)

Gilbert Kalish/Dmitri Atapine/Romie de Guise-Langlois/Alexi Kenney

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Philharmonie 2 (Paris, France)

Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra/Musicians from Orchestre de Paris/Soloists from the Ensemble Intercontemporain

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Konserthuset (Stockholm, Sweden)

Christoffer Sundqvist/Kati Ratinen/Cecilia Zilliacus/Christian Ihle Hadland

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Studioul de concerte "Mihail Jora" (Bucharest, Romania)

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