Old and Yu: The Clarinet Music of Julian Yu, Vol. 2

Catchy short pieces by Julian Yu for clarinet with string quartet, and with cello and piano: playful settings that braid Chinese folksong with oddly familiar classical themes, including Dvořák and Mozart.

Trio Varie clarinet, cello, piano
Robert Schubert clarinet
Lorraine Hook violin
Deborah Goodall violin
Gabby Halloran viola
Virginia Kable cello
Akemi Schubert piano

Julian Yu composer

Old and Yu presents the lighter side of Julian Yu: a series of catchy short pieces for clarinet and string quartet. We hear a master at play, exploring and experimenting, weaving musical threads with deep scholarship, all in the name of beauty, fun and love of life.

The album opens with a suite of six Chinese folksongs for clarinet and string quartet. That rich folksong tradition is the “Old” in the title, and the melodic material returns throughout the disc. Here Julian dresses the Chinese melodies in a quintet of modern Western instruments. The original tunes appear without modification, variation, development or modulation, so the listener can meet their sheer beauty head-on.

Later works treat the same material with astonishing imagination. In Yu’s hands East and West dissolve into one another: mischievous humour beside a profound sense of human feeling.

Clarinettist Robert Schubert is joined by a string quartet on most pieces. The closing four-movement Mozartiana features Trio Varie (clarinet, cello and piano).

(The first volume in this series of Julian Yu’s clarinet music, China Wind, showed his command of twentieth-century Western art music and pointed toward the East–West hybrid path he was already taking. That music was profound and mostly serious.)

A video of Trio Varie performing excerpts from Mozartiana can be seen here:

One Saturday afternoon in 2014 there was a knock on my door. To my surprise, on the doorstep were Julian Yu and his wife Marion. Julian never appears unannounced, so I immediately wondered what was afoot.

Julian: (hopping excitedly from side to side): Robert, are you busy? Do you have a moment to listen to something?

Me: Sure! … Come in!

Julian: (waving a USB stick in the direction of my computer): Tell me what you think. I’ve just finished. I think it’s very interesting, and it’s wonderful how the Chinese melody and Western harmony fit together so beautifully!

I immediately recognised the music, and then suddenly I didn’t. It began as the Dvořák “New World” symphony played by a computer-generated string quartet, but then the clarinet entered with a totally unexpected melody. This continued for ten amazing minutes. Julian had condensed the symphony down to its ten “essential” minutes and replaced Dvořák’s melody with Chinese folksongs that did indeed fit beautifully with Dvořák’s original harmony.

By the end of the process I am just as moved by Julian’s arrangement as the original and this piece has increased my appreciation of the depth and beauty of Chinese music and our shared humanity which underlies our cultural differences. The second movement, a moment of exquisite beauty and emotional depth, is a perfect example of this. This piece is challenging on many levels to both performer and listener, and I believe it is well worth the effort. I thank Julian for the love and skill he has poured into it. It is an emotional and compositional tour de force.

— Robert Schubert

Reviews

Julian Yu is in playful mode, cleverly demonstrating connections between music from his homeland in China and well-known tunes from Western classical repertoire. Robert Schubert’s clarinet playing is exemplary, as are performances by the string players and pianist; they are well supported by the excellent sound recording produced at Move Records studio in Melbourne. This CD is unusual, quirky – and most enjoyable.

— Gwen Bennett, Music Trust e-zine Loud Mouth

Artists

Julian Yu

Julian Yu is a multi-award-winning Australian composer whose musical language is imbued with elegance and expressiveness, both enhanced by impeccable craft and a special attention to detail.

Trio Varie

Clarinettist Robert Schubert formed Trio Varie with cellist Virginia Kable and his wife, pianist Akemi Schubert in 2017.

Robert Schubert

Robert Schubert is a Melbourne clarinettist and woodwind lecturer whose playing centres on chamber music and new works written for him.

Audio previews

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Tracks

Chinese Folksong Suite Julian Yu

Women on patrol 2:50
A patch of willow trees 1:55
Flower riddle 1:11
Flying the kite 1:27
Guest from afar, please stay awhile 1:55
Dry boat dance 1:43

Classical Stories Julian Yu

Prologue – Two Swans under Two Moons 2:57
Compound tragedy 2:15
Paganiniana 1:01
Phone call to Mozart :41
What's for Elise? 2:43
Finished Symphony 1:25
Why are butterflies sad? 1:45
Stepping up birthday 1:01
Harmonic Phrases at an Exhibition 3:23
Caterpoint 1:33
To comrade Shostakovich 2:24
Epilogue – Two Swans under Two Moons 3:06

Symphony from the Old World (Dvořák in China) Julian Yu

Allegro molto 3:46
Largo 3:43
Scherzo – molto vivace 2:09
Allegro con fuoco 3:41

Mozartiana Julian Yu

Allegretto 3:00
Moderato 4:37
Andante 6:54
Quodlibet – Allegro 5:59

Performers

Trio Varie · clarinet, cello, piano · tracks 23–26
Robert Schubert
Lorraine Hook · tracks 1–22
Deborah Goodall · tracks 1–22
Gabby Halloran · tracks 1–22
Virginia Kable
Akemi Schubert · tracks 23–26

Contributors

Photography

Yean Leng Lim

Where to listen

Old and Yu: The Clarinet Music of Julian Yu, Vol. 2 is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

Old and Yu: The Clarinet Music of Julian Yu, Vol. 2 is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.