The title of the disc is a little misleading. Better it was "Bass Clarinet and/or Piano", though the contents are entirely enjoyable. Of the six selections, only the last, "Tierkreis" is scored for both instruments (the piano proper augmented by toy piano and music box) while the others are solo pieces. All showcase one of the composer's more approachable sides, making this recording a comfortable (if unrepresentative) first exposure for beginning listeners.
Three of Stockhausen's "Klavierstück" compositions are presented, numbers VII, VIII and IX. Steffen Schleiermacher, a pianist who brings a lovely, lyrical touch to even the most imposing, opaque material (see his fine set of releases for the same label documenting the complete works for keyboard by John Cage), balances the severe with the pastoral on the piano pieces, searching out the rhythmic and even melodic elements that occasionally disappear in other readings of Stockhausen, as well as imparting a liquid quality, negating any lingering vestige of academicism, though the brief XIII retains some of that old spikiness.
Bass clarinetist Volker Hemken has himself a jolly wonderful time on both "Tanze Luzefa!" and "In Freundschaft", pieces that each date from the late 70s, a period during which Stockhausen simplified his composing style and injected more clearly melodic material into his previously dense and unyielding music. Listeners familiar with Willem Breuker's bass clarinet tirades from around the same time may find themselves grinning in recognition at certain attacks.
The duo selection is one of Stockhausen's most commonly performed works and it's easy to hear why. Divided into twelve sections representing the signs of the zodiac (hey, it was the 70s), the bulk of the material is easily digestible and even pretty. Replete with propulsive kernels of rhythm, bucolic asides for piano, elegiac stretches that anticipate late 80s Bryars as well as the playful interjection of toy piano plinking and music box handle-turning, there's much to beguile the skeptical listener. Fans of his more rigorous and larger scale works may brush these aside as mere bagatelles, but they certainly possess a great amount of charm, not a quality one generally associates with Herr Stockhausen.
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