Works for bass clarinet or alto saxphone and percussion

This is an absolutely extraordinary CD: once you start listening to it, you simply cannot stop because of the haunting atmosphere of great and intense beauty that is evoked by all of these works.

As can be seen from their biography, the members of Duo Contemporain are held in the highest esteem by some of today's major composers and they frequently tour all over the world, receiving nothing but the highest praise for their repertoire as well as for their unequalled performances.

All of the works receive on this CD their world premiere recording which also makes it a unique and very special item.

The recorded sound is beautifully clear and thus the intense atmosphere of the music has been fully captured.

 

Duo Contemporain was founded in 1980 by Henri Bok and Evert le Mair; in 1991 Miguel Bernat replaced le Mair as percussionist. Before the foundation of the Duo, music for their unusual combination of instruments (alto saxophone, bass clarinet and contralto clarinet with marimba, vibraphone and percussion) was rare, but nowadays the ensemble has a repertoire of over 200 works by composers from over 30 countries, most of these works commissioned by or especially written for Duo Contemporain, which performs all over the world. Henri Bok studied at the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music (saxophone and bass clarinet), is a member of the Selmer Saxophone Quartet and bass clarinettist with the Netherlands Clarinet Quartet. He is professor of bass clarinet at the Rotterdam Conservatory, where the unique bass clarinet program attracts students from all over the world. He is a regular guest professor at the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory, Antwerp (Belgium), co-organiser and teacher for the international Bass Clarinet Days-Ghent and soloist with major international symphony orchestras. He is also the author of the book "New techniques for the bass clarinet", published by Salabert, Paris.

Miguel Bernat received his musical education at the Conservatories of Valencia, Madrid, Brussels, and Rotterdam and at the Aspen Music Festival. He received the ''Premio Extraordinario Fin de Carrera" at the Madrid Conservatory, and First Price with superior grades at the Brussels Conservatory. He plays in the contemporary music groups "Musique Nouvelle" and "Champ d'Action", and is professor at the Rotterdam Conservatory and the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. He also taught several courses in Spain and at the Forum International de Percussion d'Auvergne in France, and is also professor at the Escola Superior de Musica de Porto, Portugal.