Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B Minor

Featuring

Lesley Schatzberger
Lucy Russell
Jonathan Sparey
Alan George
Andrew Skidmore
Fitzwilliam String Quartet

Johannes Brahms
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Alexander Glazunov
William John Sweeney

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Composer Biography

Johannes Brahms affectionately nicknamed Richard Mühlfeld, the clarinettist who inspired his works, 'Fräulein Klarinette', 'meine Primadonna', and 'the nightingale of the orchestra'.

Composition History

Brahms was inspired to write his Clarinet Quintet and other clarinet works after being 'stunned' by the eloquence and beauty of Richard Mühlfeld's clarinet playing in 1891.

Composition History

The main material of Brahms's Clarinet Quintet is so closely inter-related that it has been suggested the work might represent a secret expression of longing for Clara Schumann, whose name's letters inspired a descending sequence of notes.

Compositional Technique

The Adagio movement of Brahms's Clarinet Quintet has origins in his earlier Sarabande und Gavotte for piano from 1854-5, showing that dance elements are present even in his elegiac music.

Interpretation

This recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet aims for a more 'confrontational, red-blooded, wilder, at times angrier' sound, with generally faster tempi and more extreme dynamic contrasts, departing from modern 'mellow' interpretations.

Instruments

Lesley Schatzberger, the clarinetist on this album, plays a copy of the A clarinet used by Richard Mühlfeld, the musician who inspired Brahms to write his Clarinet Quintet.

Interpretation

The performers on this album use period-appropriate instruments, including a copy of Mühlfeld's clarinet and contemporary style bows with gut strings for the string quartet.