CHAN 241-36 Complete Weber Works for Clarinet Janet Hilton clarinet City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Neeme Järvi Lindsay String Quartet Keith Swallow piano 21 Carl Maria von Weber (1786 –1826) Complete Works for Clarinet COMPACT DISC ONE 1 Concertino in C minor, Op. 26 (J 109)* 9:04 for clarinet and orchestra Allegro – Adagio ma non troppo – Rondo. Allegro Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73 (J 114)* 20:29 2 I Allegro 8:07 3 Painting by Caroline Bardua/Lebrecht Music & Arts Photo Library II Adagio ma non troppo 5:47 4 III Rondo. Allegro 6:34 Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E fl at major, Op. 74 (J 118)* 22:08 5 I Allegro 8:24 6 II Romanza. Andante con moto – Recitativo – Tempo I 7:19 7 III Alla polacca 6:23 TT 51:42 Carl Maria von Weber 3 CCHANHAN 2241-3641-36 BBooklet.inddooklet.indd 22-3-3 221/12/061/12/06 112:00:022:00:02 COMPACT DISC TWO Clarinet Quintet in B fl at major, Op. 34 (J 182)† 28:21 Weber: Complete Works for Clarinet 1 I Allegro 10:32 2 II Fantasia. Adagio ma non troppo 6:00 3 III Menuetto. Capriccio presto – Trio 5:34 Since I composed the Concertino for Montgelas, a minister of Maximilian I, and 4 6:14 IV Rondo. Allegro giocoso Bärmann, the whole orchestra has been in the principal clarinettist of the orchestra of the very devil about demanding concertos which he speaks so affectionately in his letter, Grand duo concertant in E fl at major, from me… two clarinet concertos (of the great virtuoso Heinrich Joseph Bärmann. Op. 48 (J 204)‡ 21:01 which one in F minor is nearly ready), Like Mozart with Stadler, and later Brahms for clarinet and piano two large arias, a cello concerto, a with Mühlfeld, Weber was captivated by the 5 I Allegro con fuoco 9:03 bassoon concerto. You see I am not doing expressive possibilities of the clarinet, and 6 II Andante con moto 5:38 at all badly, and very probably I’ll be in particular by Bärmann’s artistry on it (a 7 III Rondo. Allegro 6:19 spending the summer here, where I’m contemporary account speaks of ‘technique, earning so much that I’ve something left sentiment and delicacy of tone alike’). He 8 Variations on a Theme from ‘Silvana’, over after paying my keep. was immediately struck by the clarinet’s dark Op. 33 (J 128)‡ 15:22 So wrote Weber from Munich in April 1811. lower register – later used in the ‘Wolf’s for clarinet and piano He might justifi ably have added ‘and not Glen’ scene in Der Freischütz – and by its TT 64:45 before time’, for throughout a great part of brilliant quality at the opposite end of the his life, Weber, never the most physically spectrum – which offered rich possibilities robust of men, had to work unreasonably for a lively coloratura style of writing – in Janet Hilton clarinet hard simply to pay his way in the world. addition to its unrivalled potential for leaping ‡ Keith Swallow piano Matters improved signifi cantly, however, in and trilling between the two extremes. Lindsay String Quartet† the early months of 1811. After an unhappy Composer and clarinettist had already met Peter Cropper violin episode involving charges of embezzlement several months earlier in Mannheim (home of Ronald Birks violin against his father, and disappointed in the renowned orchestra whose clarinets, soft Roger Bigley viola his hopes of fi nding a permanent post in and rich-toned in the German manner, had Bernard Gregor-Smith cello Darmstadt, Weber set off on a concert tour set a distinguished example), and, granted a City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra* of southern Germany, fi nally arriving in concert in Munich on 5 April by the King of Barrie Moore leader Munich. There he found a sympathetic Bavaria, Weber set to work on a concertino Neeme Järvi* musical ear in the person of Josef von for Bärmann to play on his recently acquired 4 5 CCHANHAN 2241-3641-36 BBooklet.inddooklet.indd 44-5-5 221/12/061/12/06 112:00:042:00:04 ten-key instrument. Within a fortnight the there follow two variations which demand in Weber’s estimation, any composer worth imagination is at its most striking. To begin work was completed, and the concert, which both dexterity and expressiveness of the the name ought to have at his command. with, bassoons play a vital, luminous role also included Weber’s First Symphony soloist. Then, unexpectedly – for is this not The expression within the works, however, is in the opening texture, tellingly blended and Der erste Ton for reciter, chorus and too lightweight a piece for what follows? –, original and characteristic. If Beethoven wrested with clarinet and strings, yet it is the slow, orchestra, was immediately sold out. Such the music comes to a rest, leaving only a his inspiration from traditional forms, Weber chorale-like duet of the soloist with three compositional fl uency can have allowed soft drum roll lingering in the air. Here, in happily accommodated himself to them. horns at the centre of the movement which Bärmann little time to study the work’s a Lento aria of just twenty-one bars, is the While the opening of Clarinet Concerto afterwards lingers in the inner ear. Here, in considerable technical details as much as he Weber of the darker side of German romantic No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73 may be German romantic literary tradition, is the would have liked. The Concertino’s success, theatre, melancholy and lyrical, with the Beethovenian in spirit, its stalking, sotto voce horn as instrument of the night, evoking however, was instantaneous. The King clarinet low in the chalumeau register against character soon shows itself to be perfectly pastoral landscapes and forests bathed in immediately requested two more clarinet piano divided violas. An Allegro fi nale in compatible with the virtuosity and spirited moonlight. (For Bärmann, in later years, works from Weber, this time concertos on 6/8, complete with a brief ‘hunting horn’ invention of the solo writing. After the the passage was to assume the nature of a a full scale, and these were written during interjection, rounds off the piece in lively fi rst, F minor paragraph, there is a pause, lament. For a memorial concert for Weber the following May and July. Three further and virtuosic fashion. and the orchestra leads off in distant D fl at in 1831, he arranged it for clarinet and works for Bärmann to play (the Quintet, the Aside from the First Piano Concerto, major, with solo writing of deftness and three male voices to words by Eduard von Grand duo concertant and a set of variations written a year previously, in 1810, the two lyrical warmth. There is a particularly lovely Schenk: ‘He is on High, the creator of these on a theme from Weber’s opera Silvana) concertos for clarinet and orchestra fi nd Weber episode which opens softly in C minor, and sounds… [which] alone live on here below’.) were to follow within the next fi ve years. coming to grips for the fi rst time with the which glides to and fro between major and The gracious company of these instruments In essence the Concertino in C minor, traditional three-movement concerto form. minor with the gentle air of melancholy remains with the soloist until the end of the Op. 26 is a scena for clarinet and orchestra, a Perhaps it was the commission from so lofty reminiscent of the Weber of German movement. set of variations which leaves an impression a source as the King of Bavaria that decided romantic theatre. The approach to the coda The playful, syncopated theme which of continuous development rather than any Weber against formal innovation; at least as confi rms the impression: in the same spirit opens the Rondo fi nale quickly dispels the conventional step-by-step embellishment of far as their fi rst movements are concerned, of tenderness and goodness that was to evoke nocturnal atmosphere. Yet there is room a theme. There is a sombre Introduction in the two clarinet concertos fall fairly easily the appearance of Agathe in Der Freischütz for lyricism too, notably in the form of a C minor (much in the style of a recitative), into the classical mould, and the orchestral ten years later, horns intone the opening graceful passage in D minor. Here, once at the end of which the horns softly intone resources of each are conventionally of that theme of the movement, to which the clarinet again, the texture is warmed by the presence the dominant, as if to return to the home period – two each of fl utes, oboes, bassoons, replies against soft tremolando strings. The of bassoons, and there is a characteristic key. Instead, however, the scene lightens into horns (three of the latter in the Adagio of movement dies away, ppp, in the minor key. excursion into the fl attened supertonic E fl at major for the theme itself, vocal and No. 1) and trumpets, with timpani and It is in the Adagio ma non troppo that (E fl at major). The rondo theme returns, Italianate, and after a brilliant orchestral reply strings. So much for the medium which, the originality of Weber’s orchestral this time with oboe contributing a delightful 6 7 CCHANHAN 2241-3641-36 BBooklet.inddooklet.indd 66-7-7 221/12/061/12/06 112:00:042:00:04 counterpoint.