Catch me if you can: Rubato and ensemble flexibility among British clarinettists on record, 1898-1953

Just as early-twentieth-century pianists communicated musical expression by spreading chords and allowing their hands to play ‘out of time’, so wind players embraced ‘untogetherness’ as a necessary feature of expressive performance, be it between between solo and accompaniment, orchestral colleagues, or members of a chamber ensemble. Using recordings of clarinettists held at the British Library Sound Archive, including unique early recordings of works by the largely forgotten British composer Richard Walthew, this talk explores the changing stylistic vernacular among British wind players during the first half of the twentieth century.