Sonates Pour Clarinette et Piano, Op. 120 Nos 1 - 2

Abstract

TO WARDS THE END OF HIS LIFE, WHEN HE HAD MORE or less decided to give up composing and lead a quieter life almost exclusively devoted to his friends, Brahms wrote four works for the clarinet: the Trio for clarinet, cello and piano, the Quintet for clarinet and string quartet, and the two Sonatas, composed in 1894. Their instigator was Richard Muhlfeld, one of the most celebrated clarinettists of the time. These are altogether private, melancholy works, shunning any form of outward brilliance and making no concessions to virtuosity. The character of the two Sonatas is strongly contrasted in spite of their having been composed at the same period. The first, in F minor, is the more rigorous, the more organized of the two but also the more emotional, especially in the first movement. It is in four movements while the second is in three. It begins with an Allegro appassionato and has an introduction with a theme that will remain its own. The exposition proper presents six themes in succession, while the development is a sort of return to the intro¬duction. The recapitulation brings back the six themes in their ini¬tial order. The second movement, Andante, un poco adagio, is ternary in form and filled with quiet resignation. The Allegretto grazioso, a Scherzo, is gently pastoral in character, and the finale, Vivace, a freely constructed rondo. The Sonata in E flat major begins with an Allegro amabile, no less sophisticated in its thematic handling than the introductory sec¬tion of the first Sonata. Whereas the abundance of principal themes is a notable feature of the first, the second Sonata has only three. The second movement, Allegro appassionato, is the only slightly impetuous movement in the two Sonatas. The Andante con moto is a theme with variations. The theme is a beautifully designed melody with its various segments making it an excellent vehicle for variation. Variations 1 to 4 stay close to the theme ; only the 5th and last variation presents a somewhat different shape. It is in E flat minor and explores the theme with greater freedom, at first in an Allegro then in a more peaceful Piii tran-quillo episode. After a short cadenza, a rather more developed coda concludes the work.