John Bruce Yeh, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s celebrated assistant principal clarinet and solo E-flat clarinet for over 40 years, headlines a program of lyrical and engaging chamber and solo works by noteworthy Windy City composers of the past and present, including three world-premiere recordings. Yeh, with Patrick Godon, the Chicago Symphony’s principal keyboardist, and freelance clarinetist Teresa Reilly, who performs with the CSO at home and on tour, presents mid-20th-century works by Alexander Tcherepnin and Leo Sowerby, a late-century work by Robert Muczynski, and recent pieces by Stacy Garrop, Shulamit Ran, and clarinetist Reilly.

World-premiere recordings include the album’s centerpiece, Sowerby’s witty and inventive 1938 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano; Ran’s tender, heartfelt Spirit for solo B-flat Clarinet; and Reilly’s The Forgiveness Train for two clarinets, an insistently rhythmic, pandemic-fueled dreamscape about personal peril amid natural beauty. Garrop’s dramatic Phoenix Rising — a world-premiere recording of the version for clarinet — depicts the fiery death and triumphant rebirth of the Phoenix of Greek and Egyptian myth. The album opens with Tcherepnin’s vivacious Sonata in one movement for clarinet and piano. Muczynski’s Time Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, a popular repertoire staple, brings the program to a brilliant close.

REVIEWS:

John Bruce Yeh, longtime clarinetist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, has commissioned various contemporary works, several of which are heard here. One, Teresa Reilly’s The Forgiveness Train, is a duet for two clarinets, in which Yeh is joined by Reilly, his spouse. It is quite an effective bespoke work, with constantly absorbing contrasts in tone between the two clarinets. Yeh is also persuasive in the demanding Spirit for solo B flat clarinet of Shulamit Ran. There are older works, including the Time Pieces for clarinet and piano, Op. 43, of Robert Muczynski, the only piece in the whole bunch that has any kind of currency on the concert stage. Listeners may be surprised to note the presence of the Clarinet Sonata in one movement of Alexander Tcherepnin on the program, but he lived and taught in Chicago in his later years. Is there a consistent Chicago thread connecting these composers? Maybe not, but the program has a certain consistency, and it is beautifully played by one of the world’s leading orchestral clarinetists.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)

John Bruce Yeh (b. 1957) is now the longest-serving clarinetist in CSO history, so it is not surprising that a series of events including being asked by the Chicago-based Cedille label about recording Leo Sowerby’s Wind Quintet would eventually lead to this album.

In the course of researching Sowerby, Yeh discovered his Sonata, a large, four-movement work that forms the centerpiece of this album. It is a solidly entertaining work; given that it was first published in 1944. While doing his research, Yeh next discovered the Tcherepnin Sonata, the sprightly little piece that leads off the program with a burst of joyous energy.

Although the whole album is enjoyable, especially if you are happen to be as big a fool for a clarinet as I am other highlights include the three pieces by women composers: Stacy Garrop’s colorful and evocative Phoenix Rising, in which Yeh is able to produce some startling tones from his instrument; Shulamit Ran’s Spirit, dedicated to a dear friend of the composer and expressing a wide range of emotion; and Teresa Reilly’s Train of Forgiveness, on which Yeh and Reilly play together, clearly enjoying the opportunity.

Don’t let the fact that this is music from the 20th and 21st centuries from composers with names that may be unfamiliar give the idea that this music must be harsh and forbidding. It is, rather, music that is enticing to the ear. Not syrupy sweet, but rather thoughtful and enduring. There are liner notes with helpful essays on the music and background information about the performers, and the sonics are up to the usual high Cedille standard.

-- Classical Candor

SYNERGY • Robert W. Rumbelow, cond; John Bruce Yeh (cl, 1 bh 2 ); Teresa Reilly (cl); 3 Molly Yeh (perc); 4 Columbus State University Wind Ens • NAXOS 8.572319 (67:46)


DAUGHERTY Brooklyn Bridge. 1 BURRITT Duo Concertante for Clarinet and Percussion. 1,4 GILLINGHAM Concertino for Four Percussion and Wind Ensemble. DAVID Fantasy Etudes, Book II. 2,3 McALLISTER Black Dog 1


The Naxos Wind Band Classics has to be one of the most valuable series that Naxos has produced so far. Using licensed recordings made primarily by local production teams and often produced by the ensemble director or soloist, Naxos has documented a wide range of fine university and service ensembles. The 24 releases so far have made available an attractive assortment of fine compositions for wind ensemble, from the traditional to the avant-garde, some transcriptions, but many original compositions. They haven’t caught up with Klavier’s long-running Wind Project with the indefatigable Eugene Corporon, not to mention that label’s many other wind ensemble releases, or the almost encyclopedic, though variable, Mark Custom catalog, but Naxos has only been at it for four years. Give it time.


Synergy is the latest release in the series, so titled to celebrate the collaboration of the Columbus State University (Georgia) Wind Ensemble with Chicago Symphony assistant principal clarinet John Bruce Yeh; his wife, clarinetist Teresa Reilly; and his percussionist daughter Molly Yeh. It is hard to gauge the synergistic effect of the Yeh Family Residency, as it is called here, having no benchmark, but the energy, precision, and musicianship of the ensemble and soloists in this studio recording—made after the March 20, 2007, concert—are all high.


The most substantial work on the CD is Michael Daugherty’s 2004 “panoramic clarinet concerto,” Brooklyn Bridge . The four contrasting movements represent the views from the bridge toward the compass points. Looking east, the music stretches and bursts into life as the great city awakens, and it is edgy and sullen as it looks west toward the site of the World Trade Center. It contemplates the north with an infectious Latin rhythm, and is lyric, with a melody of uncommon pensive beauty, as it looks south toward the Statue of Liberty. The writing for the clarinet is both congenial and challenging and Yeh plays it beautifully. This performance is softer-grained than the premiere recording by clarinetist Michael Wayne and the University of Michigan Symphony Band (Equilibrium 75 or 86), in part because the CSU ensemble has been given less presence in its recording, but also because of the greater intensity and extraordinary playing of the Michigan band. If the Daugherty were my only concern, I’d go for the Equilibrium recording, but I would be missing some excellent companion works.


Chief among these is percussionist/composer Michael Burritt’s brilliant, jazzy Duo Concertante. Written for John and Molly Yeh, it is a moving tribute both to Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa, and to the Yehs. J. M. David’s fascinating set of Fantasy Etudes for clarinet, basset horn, and small wind ensemble, a CSU commission for this concert inspired by works of Mussorgsky, Ligeti, and Stravinsky, is also well worth knowing. David Gillingham’s haunting Concertino, though not perhaps the most melodically inspired piece, showcases the excellent CSU percussionists with sonorities both thundered and (most effectively) whispered. And Scott McAllister’s Black Dog , which reimagines the Led Zeppelin song as a rhapsody for clarinet and band, brings the program to a conclusion that is both tender and, at the end, rousing. Yes, the recording could have provided more impact, especially for the brass, and a more realistic balance between the soloists and ensemble, but overall this is an impressive release.


FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames


I understand why this is issued under the Naxos Wind Band series, but it’s almost a recital disc for the truly excellent John Bruce Yeh. A member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, he plays on all the pieces except the Gillingham. The program follows an arch progression from solo to duet to quartet and back again. All told, it’s a very satisfying progression – bravo to whoever designed it.

The repertoire itself is mostly excellent – the McAllister may be a bit too long, and I wasn’t fully convinced by the Stravinskyesque touches of the David, though it has grown on me. But all the works have their charms, and the Daugherty is a wonderful surprise, the best work of his I’ve heard. The first movement opens the disc in tremendously convincing fashion, drawing the listener in for the full length of the work. The second movement accesses a tenderness and harmonic sensitivity I didn’t give Daugherty credit for. The fourth movement is a witty romp that doesn’t feel disposable the way this type of music sometimes can. The Burritt is also very accessible, in a standard fast-slow-fast shape and filled with memorable melodies and colors. I hope it has more of a life outside of this disc! The percussion soloist is Yeh’s daughter, and she was in high school when she recorded this remarkable performance. Yeh’s wife joins him on the David, where she also plays extremely well – what a family! Finally, the Gillingham is another excellent, colorful work which has already found a place in the repertoire. Moving steadily from a place of stillness and suspense to one of dramatic declamation, it is playable by an excellent amateur group but doesn’t feel like a “compromised” work at all. This performance cleanses the palette effectively for the rest of the disc yet also feels very much of a piece with the rest of the program.

Then there are the performances. Yeh dominates the disc, and completely inhabits these pieces, making each performance feel definitive. He’s a fabulous player who deserves this level of exposure. As for the band, their performances are thrilling, extremely precise and well rehearsed while still being very musical – there’s a palpable sense that everybody cares about every note. It’s a balancing act few wind bands seem to be able to achieve on recordings, with too many erring on the side of precise-but-not-musical - an understandable but regrettable error. On this disc, there’s a real sense of communication from composer, through ensemble, to listener. Congratulations and appreciation to everyone involved with this project for achieving it.

-- Benn Martin, MusicWeb International