For Heather Roche, the past year has presented a different kind of musical opportunity: the chance to play solo. Though she’s renowned for her individual explorations of the clarinet, Roche has been in collaboration mode for quite some time, working in close contact with accordionist Eva Zöllner, as well as ensemble Apartment House. There’s been less time to play music alone, or to perform pieces written for just her instrument. Staying at home has been a chance for Roche to reacquaint herself with that way of playing. Today, we’re looking at two pieces Roche got the chance to record recently, both written for contrabass clarinet.
Heather on the pieces:
‘Recording solo pieces has been the main thing I’ve accomplished in the last year. In a way, it’s been one of the best things about lockdown. I’ve been so focused in the last few years on chamber music, and in the last three to five years I’ve dedicated most of my time to collaborative projects, whether with Eva (Zollner) or Apartment House. As such, I haven’t had the time (or perhaps I haven’t been making the time) to work on solo repertoire, or to think about future solo collaborations I want to pursue.
At the moment I’m thinking a lot about how to make sure that taking the time for this kind of work always gets a place in my schedule, because it’s been really good for my playing, and I’ve also really loved the process of making home recordings.’
The following two pieces were written for the contrabass clarinet. It’s a particularly good lockdown project, the contrabass, since it’s unwieldy to move around! I was happy I got to spend some time with it at home.’
Maija Hynninen – in the universe everyth ng is a circle
Though Roche recorded her part of the piece alone, in the universe everyth ng is a circle was a sort of invisible collaboration. Roche’s contrabass is complemented with electronics from composer Maija Hynninen, recorded separately. This approach informs the piece in fascinating ways, as they seem to join up in the piece, but also drift apart, providing the sounds of a meandering imagination.
In the universe everyth ng is a circle is Inspired by the cyclical storytelling of Sawako Nakasayu’s novel Settle Her, which takes place ‘on a local bus, circling the same route the whole day’. The piece is described as ‘a journey, in circles, towards the stillness of the center’. Roche’s and Hynninen’s parts interact in ways that can feel seamless, but at other times deliberately estranged, their instruments making contact as if they were meeting momentarily on orbit around one another.
The voice-like qualities of Roche’s clarinet playing eventually meet with whispers of text from Nakasayu’s novel, making the piece sound internal, imagined in the back of someone’s head. It sounds, to me, like the act of thinking.
Dai Fujikura – Contour
Dai Fujikura’s Contour was actually written for tuba. Roche was keen to work with the composer on a version for contrabass clarinet, an instrument not typically famed for the kind of lyrical playing found in the piece. For Roche, the performance is an experiment, an attempt to stretch the limitations of the instrument: ‘We had to play a little bit with the registers to make things work, but I really like the result!’
A gorgeous, rollicking piece with dramatic low-end full stops, Roche’s version retains the brightness of Fujikura’s score, as well as its sense of narrative. It’s one of many Fujikura pieces Roche has recorded during lockdown, two of which are slated for a CD release next year.