Carl Rosman plays ruins within

Someone recently described Carl Rosman, precisely, as ‘the Compleat Musician’. Clarinetist extraordinaire, conductor, educator, I’ve known Carl for 25 years now, and not only is he is one of my favourite people, but also at the top of the list of my preferred interpreters. I was delighted when he sent me this recent Lockdown Tape (Ensemble Musikfabrik #38) of my ruins within–I call that using isolation time productively…

The piece carries a quote from the novelist Jonathan Carroll that ends: “the archaeology of the heart is the only important study”, and I have always considered that Carl’s reading of this score catches the fragility and precariousness of that thought.

I gather that ELISION are planning to release some historic videos, landmarks of their long concertising history, including some footage of Carl playing my bass clarinet/untuned percussion duo funk with the legendary Peter Neville on drumkit. As soon as that appears I will make a separate announcement.

But for the meantime, be wowed by Carl’s ruins within.