Victor Babin, best known as half of the great Vronsky & Babin Piano Duo (with his wife, the highly successful pianist Vitya Vronsky), also arranged and composed for various settings. His Divertissement Aspenois, a virtuosic tribute to the eminent clarinetist Reginald Kell, may have been inspired by hearing Kell play Stravinsky’s Three Pieces at Aspen, where they both performed.

Babin was the director of the Aspen Music Festival and dean of the Cleveland Institute of Music. In addition to his popular Hillandale Waltzes (for clarinet and piano) he wrote this unaccompanied piece for clarinet for British soloist Reginald Kell, who was also on the Aspen Faculty.

You can hear a performance of this piece at: http://www.bassclarinet.net/Babin/

Discovered on a record album found in a music store in Budapest, Tempest Hora is a showstopper. Written by the same Rumanian composer that wrote the violin showcase Hora Staccato performed by Jascha Heifetz, Tempest Hora will bring an audience to its feet! You can hear Michael Drapkin perform it with concert band here in a YouTube video.