When I started my research on Julián Menéndez in
2000 he was a fading legend in Spain, his music was mostly inaccessible
and no serious research or analysis work had been done on his life
and works. Outside Spain he was completely unknown. However, I did
know a few of his pieces for clarinet, as well as his revision of
the Complete Clarinet Method by Romero, from my years at the Leioa
Conservatory in Bilbao.
Julián Menéndez (1895, Bilbao – 1975, Madrid),
from his earliest musical training, stood out as a clarinet virtuoso.
In 1914 Menéndez moved to Madrid to further his clarinet and
composition studies. By studying clarinet with Miguel Yuste (1870-1947),
Menéndez later became the third and highest figure representing
the Spanish school of clarinet, which Antonio Romero (1815-1886) started.
The two positions he held until his retirement in 1955 were those of
principal clarinetist in the Madrid Symphony Orchestra and the Madrid
Symphonic Band, where he became a living legend. Joaquín Turina
and other critics elevated Menéndez to the summit of the clarinet
world. In 1933 Stokowski offered Menéndez the principal clarinet
position at the Philadelphia Orchestra. Menéndez, however, decided
to stay in Spain, where he had already started a revolution in the
clarinet world, as much for his compositions as for his performance.
Menéndez’s oeuvre, even though it was written in the 20th
century, evolves strictly within the European schools of the 19th century.
Menéndez’s works for clarinet were composed in two distinctive
styles of composition.
The revolution that Menéndez brought to the clarinet world lies
in his expansion of the technical and expressive potential of the instrument.
Menéndez did not compose for the clarinet as it is known within
the symphonic repertoire, but for the clarinet as he himself knew and
developed while leading the Madrid Symphonic Band. Within this distinct
context of the symphonic band, the clarinet is an agile, flexible and
tireless instrument owing to the fact that it is required to play the
first violin parts of the orchestral repertoire. Particularly during
the Menéndez era, 1914-1955, the Madrid Symphonic Band stood
out for its extraordinary performances of the symphonic repertoire,
with works like Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé or Stravinsky’s
The Rite of Spring. In this context the clarinet plays with superb
fluidity the solo as well as the accompaniment, with its range extending
to the altissimo register. In Menéndez’s music the clarinet
accompaniments stand out for their complexity and virtuosity, while
the solos offer an enormous richness of expression. Menéndez’s
writing employs keys not usually found in the clarinet repertoire as
well as numerous and adventurous chromatic modulations. This is not
due to any particular fondness for difficulty but, rather, due to the
language in use then, and now, in the Madrid Symphonic Band. Its entire
repertoire was played on the clarinet in B flat. This forces the clarinetist
to master the most difficult keys and modulations without the luxury
of changing to the clarinet in A which would make the score easier
by permitting the clarinetist to play in keys better suited to the
clarinet’s mechanism.
Menéndez’s music is an invaluable addition to the international
clarinet repertoire. Slowly, but surely, Menéndez’s music
is gaining international recognition. After listening to my recent
recording of the complete works for clarinet and piano by Menéndez —the
first ever monographic recording of his works, in a double CD, released
in Tokyo in July 2004— Charles Neidich wrote: “Menéndez's
music, I realized listening to these CDs, fills an important niche
for the clarinet. (…) Menéndez, judging by his compositions,
must have been a formidable virtuoso.” Richard Stoltzman wrote: “You
have opened a beautiful treasure chest of repertoire for the world
of clarinetists.” J. Vicente Peñarrocha, student of Julián
Menéndez, Principal Clarinetist of the National Orchestra of
Spain and Professor of Clarinet at the Madrid Royal Superior Conservatory
wrote: “This recording (…) is the result of the profound
knowledge of Oskar Espina Ruiz, of his excellent technique and his
sensitivity, and of his acknowledgement and appreciation of the figure
and the oeuvre of an extraordinary clarinetist and excellent musician.”
In 2003 the Metropolitan Museum of Art included a clarinet of Julián
Menéndez in its Musical Instruments Galleries. The Menéndez
clarinet shares pride of place with the instrument of another eminent
clarinetist of the 20th century, the American Benny Goodman. The plaque
next to Menéndez’s clarinet reads: “The Spanish
Basque Julián Menéndez (1895-1975) was a clarinetist
of legendary virtuosity with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra and Madrid
Symphonic Band. His compositions for the instrument represent a unique
style of writing and greatly expanded the technical and expressive
possibilities of the clarinet. Menéndez’s works are comparable
in inspiration and scope to those written for piano by Albéniz
and Granados.” — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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