Johannes Schöllhorn clouds and sky

clouds and sky (2010) Jan-Philip Schulze, piano/WDRSO/Rundel
rota (2008) Gareth Davis, contrabass clarinet/The Jack Quartet
red and blue (1999) Ensemble S percussion sextet
a self-same song (2010) Gareth Davis contrabass-clarinet solo

Mode 255: Johannes Schöllhorn

Johannes Schöllhorn (b.1962), a Ferneyhough student, is one of Germany’s leading composers of his generation. He was featured at London's Royal Festival Hall with his 'composed interpretation' of Bach's The Art of the Fugue.

The title track of Schöllhorn's first American release is an extraordinarily beautiful 24 mins meditation on a late Fauré nocturne, played by the orchestra in "absolute slow motion" against the original on piano.

His rota explores the potential of contrabass clarinet in the hands of specialist Gareth Davis, who has his own solo spot in a wild virtuoso solo based on Gershwin’s “A Foggy Day.”

A typically stimulating Mode release.

Peter Grahame Woolf