JØRGEN PLAETNER (1930-2002): Episodes and Collisions for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Op. 86, Clarinet Sonata, Op. 93, 3 Songs to Texts by Stig Dagerman, Songs: Mosquito Song, Your Voice Whispers the Night Forth, In a Dune..., Little Human.

Description: Plaetner's pioneering work in the field of electronic music overshadowed his conventional compositions during his lifetime, and after his death these fine late works, which avoid any suggestion of the kind of modernism that might be expected of a composer associated with the electronic idiom, fell into obscurity. This recording is in fact the clarinet sonata's first performance. Episodes and Collisions traverses a wide range of moods and textures with dizzying rapidity, yet an overall sense of cohesion. In style it seems influenced by Plaetner's teacher, Holmboe, and contains suggestions of an eastern European folk influence. The substantial sonata is virtually a virtuosic monologue for the clarinet, with piano interludes; the strongly characterized music given to the clarinet, and its exploration of various distinct 'personalities' - extroverted and aggressive, soulful and melancholy - recall's Nelsen's clarinet concerto. The songs combine lyricism with economy and a sense of aphoristic irony. Danish-English texts. Helene Gjerris (mezzo), LINensemble.