Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 18 (Braving The Clarinet)

JJ and Haz extol the virtues and versatility of the clarinet, from its humble folk beginnings through to its many shapes and sizes of today. Includes the instrument's nicknames, its use in classical and jazz and its resemblance to milk chocolate.

Transcript

 Arts Active Podcast

Transcript - Braving The Clarinet

JJ

Hello, my name's JJ.

Haz   

And my name is Haz.

JJ

And Haz you're wearing delightfully glittery shoes, I'm going to say.

Haz

I am. Now, let me give you a piece of advice that's changed my life in the last two months.

JJ

Go on.

Haz
 Elastic laces. 

 JJ

 Woah.

 Haz

 Yeah.

JJ

I don't think I could do that really.

Haz

No you can. And I was thinking that for myself as well, but eBay them, they are amazing. We're in very different frames of mind today because I'm all Loosey Goosey and you've had an espresso at 5:00 AM and now you're Business Jon.

JJ

I'm Business Jon - got no room for elasticated glittery trainers.

 Haz

 No.

 JJ

Besides which, I'm… Yeah, could I get away with that for my, sort of, more brown broguey situation?

Haz

I mean, they don't do them in a size 12 so I think you're out anyway. But you are in full business mode. We've got such an amazing line up of an instrument for you today. We're ready to do this.

JJ

We're ready to get cracking, and I shall say that this podcast is trailing the concert that is organised by Arts Active, who also, by the way, I just want to give, you know, due tribute to Arts Active because they've been commissioning these Braving the Stave podcasts for many years now. 

Haz

Amazing.

JJ

Anyway, they also run this lunchtime series at Eglwys Dewi Sant in the centre of Cardiff and on the 6th of May, it's a Tuesday lunchtime, if you're available, there will be a beautiful recital by London Winds, who will be in the form of a woodwind quintet, and they were formed by Michael Collins, the famous clarinettist, back in the 80s. Which might give our listeners a clue as to the subject of our podcast today.

Haz

It's the harp. No, that's…

JJ

Electric guitar!

Haz

 Yeah.

JJ

I am going to play you a weird and wonderful noise. Are you ready for this?

Haz

Nope.
 
 [instrument plays]
 
 That's howlin’. What is that?

JJ

That, my friend, is the earliest form of clarinet that we know to exist, called the chalumeau, and we should say that we are of course, discussing all things clarinet today.

Haz

That is the… one of the worst sounds I've heard this morning.

JJ

In fairness, I don't think it was the world's, you know, finest exponent of the chalumeau.

Haz

Was it you playing?

JJ

I could have been, right?! So the chalumeau looks like a recorder. It's made of boxwood, it's got open holes and it's not very long and it has a single reed attached to the top of it -  a single, not a double - which differentiates the clarinet from our double-reeded friends, the oboe and bassoon, and immediately you get a mellower, warmer sound because of it. Not that last except maybe! But the chalumeau was restricted to a very, sort of, narrow register, which still exists in name, at least on the modern clarinet, because we refer to the chalumeau register as being the warm lower register of the instrument.

Haz

Oh, that's cool.

JJ

So there we go. It's still, yeah, referred to. And apparently there were chalumeaux existing around in the 1100s. But apparently the first one that has been evidenced is in the 1680s. So what have they been doing in 500 years?

Haz

I tell you what happened. So it was like “Mum, mum, look at this! It's amazing!” Like “Ohh, well, we put her on the fridge. That's really good. Really good work. I love it even if others don't.” And then they just forgot about it because they were like, what an awful sound that is.

JJ

Well, that is the folk forerunner of the modern clarinet, and we'll be coming back to the many different clarinets in the clarinet family shortly. But first of all, how do you feel about the sound of the clarinet?

Haz

I love the clarinet. 

JJ

Oh good.

Haz

See now this…. If I had a choice as to what instrument I played, even now, if I could start again, I would choose the clarinet. I just would. I just think it's most gorgeous sound.

JJ

I think there's a kinship actually between the sound of the clarinet and the viola. You know, the warmth of it, the versatility of it. What do you think?

Haz

Yep. I would agree. I think clarinettists all across the land would be like “Shut up Jon, how dare you?”. But it's true because they're both middle of the range, both quite a mellow sound and yeah, it's a lovely, lovely instrument.

JJ

I'm thinking more personality type. 

Haz

Oh. 

JJ

Because if we were to stereotype a clarinettist, they would be fun-loving. They'd be the more relaxed member of the woodwind family.

Haz

Yeah, they don't have to give the A and they don't have the highest part.

JJ

No.

Haz

I mean, the flutes.

JJ

They're snug under that, generally speaking.

Haz

Yeah, yeah.

JJ

And I think it's fair to say if we're sticking with stereotypes, and I know you'll know many exceptions to this as I do, but the oboes and bassoons tend to be a little bit squarer and, you know, stiffer, should we say.

Haz

Yeah. Ohh clarinettists can drink.

JJ

Do you think they make good dating partners for trumpets and violas, do you think?

Haz

Ohh, I mean I cannot comment on this in any way at all. I can't! But I think, yes, maybe that same group that you'd, like, find in a pub, you know?

JJ

Anyway, you get the scene.

Haz

Mm-hmm.

JJ

There are, I think, some names that your friends have given the clarinet. Is that right?

Haz

Right. I have so many here. But, first of all, I'm going to give you a little qui. 

JJ

OK. 

Haz

I'm going to say three different names and I want you to tell me which one is fake.

JJ

Oh, ok, great.

Haz

The black stick of death, the melody tube, or plumber's nightmare.

JJ

I'm going to say the melody tube.

Haz

Yeah, you're. Because everything else that you could describe the clarinet is mostly just derogatory in every way. Would you like to hear the list?

JJ

I would. You know, on the plumber's nightmare I can tell you a fascinating fact. 

Haz

Yeah, go on. 

JJ

That it was Boehm who also sorted out the key structure on other instruments - on other woodwind instruments - who modernised the clarinet into its current shape and structure.

Haz

Ooh. Yeah, it is nice… there's something very satisfying, about the way you go [imitating clicking sound] click down the pads of it. 

JJ

Yes, 

Haz

Yeah.

JJ

So you you've tried that, have you?

Haz

I've heard it behind me a couple of times!

JJ

Very good.

Haz

Right, here we are. Right? Ready, liquorice stick, gloom tube, misery stick, agony stick, witch stick, black stick of death, the squeak machine, fish horn, Satan’s wand, Beelzebub’s batten, plumbers nightmare. That's it.

JJ

That is a formidable list. Does this come up in the pub afterwards or something?

Haz

No, I just… I just, like, loads of different forums online, what I've heard, the gloom tube and the misery stick are the ones I've heard most often.

JJ

It is quite melancholic, it can be, and it can have the most soft-breathed and beautifully gentle sounds of all the woodwind instruments anyway, right?

Haz

Yes, yeah, yeah. And it's often portrayed lots in different media forms of music. Does that make sense? Like, lots of different composers have used it to evoke a certain emotion or a certain character.

JJ

So versatile. 

Haz

Mm-hmm.

JJ

We've got to get away from Prokofiev’s... Oh, no, was it the cat?

Haz

Yeah, that's it. I like that one, yeah.

JJ

Yes. Very feline sound, very agile, but you're right, it can be so perky. It was called the clarinet initially because of its trumpet like sound, that really bright sound, the ‘clarinetto’, as opposed to ‘clarino’, meaning, you know, ‘trumpet’. And so, yes, I think Mozart called it very lordly. I love that adjective. 

Haz

Mmmm.

JJ

So you've got the ability for it to sound regal and fanfare-like, right the way through to, as we say the softest sound imaginable. 

Haz

Mmhm.

JJ

Can I give you a just a brief survey of the various different clarinets in the clarinet family?

Haz

Oh, yes.

JJ

Great. So, we're going to start with the piccolo clarinet, of which there are two. The first one is the A flat piccolo, which sounds like this.

 [A flat piccolo clarinet playing]

JJ

That's perky. 

Haz

Good morning. Shut up.

JJ

So that's the A flat. Now here's the E flat. Name that piece.

[E flat sopranino (piccolo) clarinet playing]

Haz

[singing along to the music]. Um, Bolero is it?

JJ

Of course

Haz

I hate this one. You made me sing along to that. Yeah, next.

JJ

Afraid we've got a bit more of Bolero to play, but that is a lovely, soft high sound, isn't it, compared to the A flat?

Haz

Yeah, I would say it's creamier. 

JJ

Yes.

Haz

More fat. 

JJ

I think it gets fuller fat the lower we get. This is the C major.

[C clarinet playing]

Haz

Nice. I like it. 

JJ

Sorry, the clarinet in C. 

Haz

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is nice.

JJ

And the famous B flat.

Haz

Nice.

JJ

I say famous because that's the most used one now.

Haz

Stunning.

JJ

Really smooth isn't it?

Haz

Ohh that is a thing of beauty. It really is.

JJ

OK, I'm going to skip a few out, but maybe if I can just tell you just to give you a sense of how broad and wide this family is, we could have gone to the A clarinet next, which is an even warmer tone. And then you have the clarinet d'amore in G, which I hadn't come across.

Haz

No, I’ve heard of an oboe d’amore but not a clarinet d’amore.

JJ

There we go. Basset horns in G andF, which we'll come back to.

Haz

Yeah, because I don't know what that is.

JJ

We must come back to that when referencing Mozart and his clarinet concerto.

Haz

Ok, cool.

JJ

Then comes the bass clarinet, then the contralto in E flat, and then finally the contrabass, which sounds like a weapon. Are you ready?

Haz

I've never been more ready.

[contrabass clarinet playing]

JJ

I think that was a bit of Mahler.

Haz

That was like “Bring out your dead.”

JJ

Well, Mahler did love a funeral march. 

Haz

Yeah.

JJ

So yes.

Haz

Can you imagine if you're… is that a contra bass… what is…?

JJ

That was the contrabass, not the bass clarinet, but the contrabass.

Haz

The contrabass. Like, you don't get to play many sprightly tunes if you're a contrabass clarinettist, do you?

JJ

No, I don't think you even get to be a, sort of a jolly uncle.

Haz

No. But as soon as you see Mahler on those programmes coming up, you're like “I'm gonna get booked. 100%, just dust out the old contrabass.”

JJ

It can't get used often, apart from film scores, it would be a very atmospheric sound, wouldn’t it.

Haz

Hey, I would, you know, just diversify - bar mitzvahs, weddings, funerals, book a contrabass clarinettist.

JJ

Klezmer contrabass clarinet. 

Haz

Exactly.

JJ

That is something, if that exists, we need to look that up.

Haz

Yeah, absolutely. 

JJ

Now you were… talking of film scores, you were saying how versatile it is in that context.

Haz

Yes, this is why I was so excited to do the clarinet, because recently, I don’t mean to boast but I had a gig.

JJ

Did you? Fancy that.

Haz

One the first and only of the year probably. I know. I haven't been paid but oh well, no, it was with, like, a film orchestra and they had a solo clarinettist right at the front, like, coming… which I've never really seen that much before, you know, a solo clarinettist standing up and coming to the front for, you know, a big film orchestra concert. But it was with John Williams's piece, the film The Terminal. 

JJ

I love that film. 

Haz

Yes, with Tom Hanks living in the airport. I don't know if…

JJ

A lonely character.

Haz

Yeah, exactly. And it's the most jaunty and perfect instrument to use for this, because I think it makes the character seem kind of lost, but, sort of, kind of OK in his surroundings, just kind of getting on with life. And I think the clarinet is absolutely perfect for that. So I just wondered if we could play that show, how amazingly cool and diverse it is.

JJ

Let's have a go. 

 [Music: John Williams: The Tale of Viktor Navorski, from the film The Terminal]

 Slightly Jewish overtones there, or perhaps I'm making that up.

Haz

No, I think that's right, because apparently he's travelled from Krakozhia, which is a fictional country created for the film, The Terminal, and it's, like, former Soviet Eastern Bloc states, different… like, there's loads of different references in there. And I just think it's really beautifully done because it makes you think of a country, but also an in-between land of the airport.

JJ

Certainly, yeah, eastern bloc, isn't it?

Haz

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

JJ

We've got those overtones. Brilliant. Well, thank you for that. And I thought we could take a step back from that modern sound now and just look at the world of the basset horn. 

Haz

Uh-huh, yes. Yeah. So what…? What is that?

JJ

Well, let me tell you Haz. 

Haz

OK.

JJ

You remember our dear friend the chalumeau?

Haz

Ohh, how could I forget? We've gone so far back.

JJ

So, I can tell you that Johann Christoph Denner managed to extend the instrument into something that is more clearly the predecessor of the modern clarinet.

Haz

Mm-hmm.

JJ

And so we have Denner to thank for that shape and the increased range of the instrument from the chalumeau. And then after that, it grew and it grew and it, sort of, got more and more keys added to it. 

Haz

Mm-hmm. 

JJ

nd eventually it got deeper and we end up with the basset clarinet, which is… I suppose it has the range of an alto clarinet in that it can reach down into the lower reaches, and Mozart particularly liked the warmth of that lower register.

Haz

Mm-hmm.

JJ

So when he composed for Stadler, this star clarinettist, and he composed, amongst other things, the wonderful Clarinet Concerto, he had this basset horn or basset clarinet in mind.

Haz

I've just googled it to see a picture of it.

JJ

Oh yeah.

Haz

That's so strange. It's like if someone hadn't seen a clarinet before and has just put it together and they've got an extra missing piece that they've just wedged onto the end.

JJ

That's right. 

Haz

Is that right?

JJ

Exactly that. Yes, it looks like an over-long, slightly wonky clarinet.

Haz

Yeah, like you've accidentally put two Lego sets together and you're kind of looking at it like “Yeah, something’s odd.” 

JJ

Ta-da! 

Haz

Yeah, yeah.

JJ

I have no idea why basset… where that comes from. I'm sure there's a learned explanation to that.

Haz

Not on Google. 

JJ

However, it is wonderful when you hear the Clarinet Concerto, which is so familiar to us, performed in that slightly warmer tone. That said, I know that your treasure swap is coming up.

Haz

Yeah.

JJ

Why don’t you tell us about it?

Haz

Ooh shall I?! I really don't know anything about it. So, it's Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. 

JJ

That's right. We're on topic.

Haz

The thing is, you'll know more about it than I will. I just know it as it was also used as a Miss Marple theme for a long time and I just think that's beautiful. And I also played it in college. We did, like, a quintet version of it, like a reduced strings and clarinet version. And I… it’s just it's such an earworm. He was the original, just, tune maker, wasn't he? Mozart, just amazing.

JJ

None more so than in that absolutely… I'm going to say divine middle movement 

Haz

Yeah.

JJ

that has a melody to die for - so soporific, so calming used, I believe, by many mothers the world over to soothe their infants into sleep.

Haz

Absolutely. And even though the range is really big, that's my learned comment for the Clarinet Concerto, it still makes you feel like you can hum along to it because the clarinet has that sound that you think you can sing along to. So I think that's why maybe it's lasted ‘til now, as well. So famous and so remembered because we can all sing along to it. 

JJ

Mmm-hmm.

Haz

So maybe that's what… I don't know. That's my scholarly take

JJ

I think all of that is very true, and the interesting thing is, although he was writing it for the basset horn, which has, as we've said, that buttery warm, 

Haz

Yes.

JJ

lower register, he also liked how perky and bright it could be. So, I think you were going to offer the finale, is that right, from this concerto?

Haz

I was, yeah. I was gonna go for the third movement, if that's if that's alright with you guys.

JJ

It is so acrobatic, this.

Haz

Yeah, it's beautiful. I love this one. And it makes me skip on my merry way with my dog. It's beautiful. So it's the third movement, Rondo, Allegro. 

JJ

Perfect.

 [Music: Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 633: III. Allegro]

Yeah. One of the most felicitous themes of any rondo.

Haz

Yeah.

JJ

Not just by Mozart. It just catches the ear, doesn’t it?

Haz

It is, isn't it. It's so good. And we’re just both grinning now listening to that, so yeah.

JJ

It does. It puts a spring in your step. You mentioned Joan Collins.

Haz

Well, I was just thinking Jonathan James as Miss Ma... It's like “We should like to present Miss Marple, featuring Jonathan James as Miss Marple.”

JJ

It does set the scene, doesn't it?

Haz

Mmm-hmm.

JJ

Of a very jaunty person.

Haz

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

JJ

Definitely. And that was Jonathan Leibovitz, who was playing it on a basset horn. I'm just laughing because Haz is looking through various Google images of DIY basset horns that look hideous, essentially.

Haz

They are unbelievable.

JJ

They look like carpentry tools.

Haz

They really are. It's like they really haven't quite found the best one yet. They keep trying, but, mmm, it's like they've had a few drinks and, you know.

JJ

Well, I'm gonna return, for my part of the treasure swap, to something a little bit more familiar in terms of how it looks, at least. 

Haz

Mm-hmm. 

JJ

And this is the clarinet in A. And this is a separate instrument to the clarinet in B flat, which is the most used, and it's used generally for when composers want a slightly warmer, more liquid sound, I guess. To be honest, you can't really tell generally between the two. If I were to do a blind test.

Haz

I couldn't ever and honestly, and I would just like to insert here the fact that clarinettists are transposing all the time for different things. And my friend Daisy, when we do, like, early years things, she's like reading nursery rhymes in various different keys, fonts, clefs, whatever and she's like “Yep, Yep. I can do that. Yep, no problem.” I think they're witches. I think they're amazing.

JJ

All part of the joys of being a transposing instrument.

Haz

Mm-hmm.

JJ

So this is the clarinet in A, which was used by Rachmaninoff. I know you know what's coming around the corner, don’t you?

Haz

I absolutely do. It's the daddy of all clarinet solos, isn't it?

JJ

It has to be. It's on all the audition lists. This is the clarinet solo that opens the third movement from his second symphony. I think the closest you get to milk chocolate in sound.

Haz

Yeah. I'm actually going to close my eyes and listen to this now and just enjoy.

JJ

Here we go. 

 [Music: Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27]

 That is so smoochy, isn't it?

Haz

Ohh, good word, good word to use.

JJ

You can't sing along to that without going all Sinatra.

Haz

“Rrr, rrr, rrr” Yeah, we were doing that. Also, that was done in one breath, I believe.

JJ

Ridiculously smooth playing by the principal of the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Anthony Papano.

Haz

Ooh.

JJ

So that's given us a sense, a little bit of the range and versatility of the instrument.

Haz

Yes. Ohh and I also, sorry, I have… I don't mean to scare you, I have one more for you.

JJ

Oh go then.

Haz

If that's alright. It was the first time I'd heard a clarinet played in a symphony orchestra. So, it's when I went on Nash [National] Youth Orchestra of Wales. Big shout out to NYO.
 JJ

Mmm-hmm. What a wonderful establishment that is.

Haz

I mean, yeah, literally taught me so much and it was the first time I'd heard a clarinet being played uglily. Uglily? On purpose. So this was Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich.

JJ

They can shriek.

Haz

And it was really scary, and I remember they conducted being like, “More. Worse. Make it grittier, make it harsher, make it squealier.” And I was like, whoa, ‘cause I thought it was always supposed to sound lovely, you know, like…

JJ

Yeah, this is the voice of terror in that context, isn’t it?

Haz

Yeah, exactly. And the first time I heard it, I honestly jumped out of my skin in my seat, and it was brilliant. Back of violas, do you know what I mean, as close as you can be to the woodwind, as it is, and just yeah. Great fun.

JJ

So here is the sound of Stalinist oppression in the clarinet form.

Haz

Mmm-hmm.

 [Music: Shostakovitch: Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47: II. Allegretto]

JJ

That's a scream of a sound, isn't it? 

Haz

Mmm-hmm.

JJ

The E flat piccolo clarinet accompanied by another.

Haz

Yeah.

JJ

And then the jauntiness of the bassoons, again so typical of Shostakovich's sound.

Haz

Yep. Shrill and piercing. And yeah. Do you want to… You've got such a good scope of words with you today. You’ve got loads of words, Jon. You have!

JJ

I think it's because I'm reading in the mornings.

Haz

Uh-huh.

JJ

So you know that just reprograms the mind.

Haz

It really does. It makes you more versatile, like the clarinet.

JJ

Oh, thank you very much. I think that versatility is something we need to celebrate now in terms of its stylistic versatility as well. 

Haz

Mmm-hmm. Yep.

JJ

As an instrument. Because the clarinet makes for a fantastic jazz sound, I mean, you mentioned klezmer earlier.

Haz

Yep.

JJ

And so you've got the folk sounds of the klezmer clarinet

Haz

Yep.

JJ

and the tárogató - the Hungarian folk sound.

Haz

Yep.

JJ

And then you've got the smoochiness, just to come back to that word,

Haz

Mmm-hmm.

JJ

and the silken tones of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw?

Haz

Yeah. I've got a feeling that the clarinet in jazz isn't cool. I don't know where I… I don't know, I just feel like jazz is like, “Yeah, yeah man, bring your clarinet. Yeah.”

JJ

I suppose it's only cool in a certain context, which is either trad jazz,

Haz

Yeah, yeah. 

JJ

sort of Dixieland,

Haz

Yeah.

JJ

or swing, so the 1920s big band sound. 

Haz

Yeah. 

JJ

But you're right, it's not as cool as a saxophone, and it perhaps is a little bit of a cousin.

Haz

No. It's kind of, it's like “Yeah, bring your cousin along. Ohh, do we have to? Yes”. Like “Yes, be nice.” But I think it is really cool, especially the ones I grew up listening to like on my Swing is the Thing, three-CD classic we had in the car there was loads of clarinet and it sounded amazing.

JJ

Yes. Well, let's just pay tribute, first of all to Benny Goodman, who was the swing clarinetist par excellence, who also had an interest in classical music and commissioned works by Bartók and Copeland

Haz

Oh, I didn't know that.

JJ

for the instrument, and performed them.

Haz

That's very cool.

JJ

So again, versatility from him. Out of the two, so I mentioned him and Artie Shaw, he was, I suppose the perkier, I'm going to say swingier of the two

Haz

Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah.

JJ

and Artie Shaw more the lovely, poetic, drifty sound that used a lot of bends and was never in a hurry.

Haz

Yeah. More of, like, an effect, like a textural sort of thing in the music rather than a “doo do doo doo do doo doo doo”.

JJ

Well, he was a frontman as well, but yeah, I think it's just, it's a subtle difference. Shall we see we can hear it? 

Haz

Mmm-hmm. Yeah. 

JJ

This is Benny Goodman doing Sing, Sing.

[Music: Benny Goodman: Sing, Sing, Sing]

 Haz

Yeah, I take it all back. That's the coolest thing I've ever heard.

JJ

That top note there.

Haz

Yeah, that was ridiculous. What was I talking about? “I don't think it's cool.” Yeah, that's pretty good.

JJ

There have been many a clarinettist that have tried to sort of imitate the Benny Goodman solo

Haz

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

JJ

and the shape of it, and how nimble he is, right?

Haz

Yeah, that was amazing.

JJ

Just amazing. That was Sing, Sing. So now the smoother tones maybe

Haz

maybe 

JJ

of Artie Shaw.

 [Music: Artie Shaw: Traffic Jam]

Haz

Yeah, that’s cool innit. It's nice.

JJ

I think I could have picked perhaps a softer contrast to make the point between the poet and the perky one.

Haz

It's nice, it shows all the... Well, it's the slides. It's very cool. It's a nice way of, yeah, showing off the range of the instrument but just in one note, you know?

JJ

And we can't not mention the - there's a double negative going on there.

Haz

Oh. It doesn't matter. Don't worry, I'll sing it. “Doowwwwwweeee”

JJ

Name that in one, listeners.

Haz

“Bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah” I'll sing the whole thing.

JJ

The clarinet slide to end all clarinet slides that opens, of course, the Rhapsody in Blue.

Haz

Rrrrrrhapsody.

JJ

Rrrrrrhapsody

Haz

Rrrrrrhapsody in Blue. Beautiful.

JJ

by George Gershwin. We're not gonna play that again because we've used that many a time on previous podcasts.

Haz

And I've already sung it so why would you listen to it now?

JJ

What a characterful instrument the clarinet is.

Haz

Perfect. And also, you've got loads of jobs. I mean, I know there's only, like, what two, three seats in an orchestra, but you've got musicals, you've got shows you’ve got orchestras, jazz.

JJ

Military bands.

Haz

Military ba… funerals, bar mitzvahs.

JJ

Folk stuff.

Haz

Everything. Yeah, it's amazing. Loads of work.

JJ

Yeah. Do you know, I think I might have taken up the wrong instrument, is what I think!

Haz

I was just thinking that! Maybe I'll retrain, yeah.

JJ

Well, we thought we'd bring it back home to see you out today with a version of All Through the Night. 

Haz

[singing] “Ar hyd y nos”

JJ

Ar Hyd y Nos.

Haz

Yeah, that’s nice. [inaudible]

JJ

One of the most… It has to be one of the most famous folk tunes that has sprung from Wales.

Haz

Yeah. It's beautiful. I mean, we should end every episode with a version of Ar Hyd y Nos but done in that style of what we're doing that week.

JJ

I don't know if I can quite stand it because I've heard it too many times.

Haz

This is true, but for one last time, folks, one last time.

JJ

Now, the reason I've chosen this version is because it's by a woodwind quintet.

Haz

Mm-hmm. 

JJ

And we were, after all, just teasing this concert on the 6th of May, let me remind you, by the London Winds, and I'm hoping I might get a sneaky conversation in with their founder Michael Collins, as well, as a bonus episode.

Haz

Amazing.

JJ

So look out for that one. But for now, let's see ourselves out with Ar Hyd y Nos. And by the way, I hope you had a very happy Easter and a merry.

Haz

New year.

JJ

Hwyl fawr.

Haz

Hwyl fawr.

[Music. Ar Hyd y Nos]