A new recording of Jonathan Harvey’s The Riot features on Ian Mitchell’s new ‘Bass clarinet and friends: a miscellany’, available from Metier.
Written in 1993 for the virtuoso Amsterdam-based Het Trio, this playful 9-minute trio is scored for flute (doubling piccolo), bass clarinet and piano. This is rugged, high energy music, full of startling gestures and driven by an earthy abandon which makes it one of Harvey’s liveliest pieces.
Full details of the release - featuring Ileana Ruhemann (flute), Ian Mitchell (bass clarinet) and Aleksander Szram (piano) - can be found here. Watch Ian explain the thinking behind his compilation of pieces here.
‘A highly charged piece of music… The harmonies and melodies are eclectic, with every so often something totally conventional breaking out, especially in the piano part. It is a fab piece and, except for the [York] Bowen is my favourite piece in this disc.’
MusicWeb International (John France), September 2018