Strange Loops: Clarinet Quintets album review – drama, imagination and sonic flair

Van de Wiel/Soloists of the Philharmonia (Signum) Clarinettist Mark Von de Wiel performs music by Anna Clyne, Ruth Gipps and Weber Mark van de Wiel was principal clarinet of the Philharmonia from 2000 until 2025, during which time he gave the UK premiere of Anna Clyne’s Strange Loops. The title, derived from Douglas Hofstadter’s 1979 bestseller Gödel, Escher, Bach, describes a cyclic system where, by moving up or down through different hierarchical levels, you unexpectedly find yourself back ...

By Clive Paget