John Ireland: Sextet/Clarinet Trio (Naxos Audio CD)

Robert Plane (clarinet)
Sophia Rahman (piano)
Alice Neary (cello)
David Pyatt (French horn)
Maggini Quartet

A composition pupil of Stanford and recognised as an outstanding talent by Parry, John Ireland was inspired as student by the music of Beethoven, Brahms and Elgar, and later by Debussy, Ravel and the early Stravinsky.

This recording features the genial, Brahmsian 1898 Sextet for clarinet, French horn and string quartet, unheard in public until 1960, and a reconstruction by the Canadian clarinettist and clarinet maker Stephen Fox of the Clarinet Trio of 1912-14.

Also included are Robert Plane’s transcription for clarinet and piano of Ireland’s very popular piano prelude The Holy Boy, written on Christmas Day 1913, and one of Ireland’s finest and most beautifully crafted chamber works, the Fantasy Sonata for clarinet and piano (1943).

“Ravishing in tone and exploiting an excitingly wide range of dynamics, Plane forges a commandingly articulate alliance with the pianist… Naxos’s absurdly modest asking-price is the icing on the cake!”
Gramophone