Clarinetist David Shifrin, joined by three different string quartets, performs in world premieres commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest, which chose three of the finest living American composers. Spring Forward, the title work by Peter Schickele, is a suite representing a culmination of sorts “after a lifetime of entering sketches for such a piece into my notebooks,” Schickele writes in the program notes. Richard Danielpour’s Clarinet Quintet, The Last Jew in Hamadan was composed with memories of his childhood in Iran in mind. Aaron Jay Kernis’s Perpetual Chaconne reflects his fascination with the variety of approaches composers have used to develop and vary their ideas over the ages.
Spring Forward: Music for Clarinet and String Quartet
