Jack Brymer

Johannes Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor Op. 115

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• published: 07 Jul 2016
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Johannes Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor Op. 115 (1891) Allegro 00:00 Adagio 12:29 Andantino – Presto non assai, ma con sentimento 23:43 Con moto 28:26 Jack Brymer, clarinet The Allegri String Quartet Painting: Auguste Renoir, Eugène Murer, 1877, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art First movement Like the quintet by Mozart, the strings begin the piece. Only several bars after the clarinet's entry is it finally made clear that the key of the music is B minor rather than D major (the latter being the key in which the exposition ends, leading smoothly into the repeat of the clarinet's opening). This movement sets an autumnal mood for the rest of the composition. One phrase, towards the middle played by the clarinet, sounds closely related to one in the first movement of Carl Maria von Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor. Second movement The reflective melody is first introduced by the clarinet. Later, the mood changes back to the gloomy atmosphere of the first movement. The clarinet performs technical runs playing from all ranges. It returns to the beginning theme and then subsides. Third movement The shortest of all four, the movement begins sweetly being one of the composition's few uplifting passages. In measure twenty-three, the clarinet and violin play as if they were talking in a conversation. It modulates back from its heart-warming D major into the darker B minor. This section is highly influenced by the first part and even ends the same except being in a 2/4 meter. Fourth movement This movement is titled "With Motion" and contains a theme and five variations as do the final movements of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet and Brahms's Clarinet Sonata No. 2. Tempo varies according to the musician. Another sweet melody which resembles the second movement is in this part and is in the same B major key. Later, it brings back the theme from the Allegro and ends with a loud chord which eventually fades away. Extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarinet_Quintet_(Brahms)