MDG recordings are produced in the natural acoustics of specially chosen concert halls, avoiding artificial reverberation, sound filters, or limiters.
Critical Reception
Despite their complexity, Brahms's clarinet works remain accessible, though some critics of early performances disputed this.
Composition History
Brahms's Sonatas op. 120 were written in Bad Ischl before the end of August 1894, after Mühlfeld's playing inspired him to compose again.
Compositional Technique
Brahms's clarinet works, including these sonatas, develop all themes across all movements from a single basic motif, a technique that inspired Arnold Schönberg's essay 'Brahms, the Progressive'.
Interpretation
Violist Christian Euler chose to play the original clarinet version of Brahms's Sonatas op. 120, with only a few added double stops from the viola version, to fully exploit the instrument's range.
Composition History
Johannes Brahms had decided to stop composing in 1890, but the playing of clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld inspired him to resume.
Composer Biography
Richard Mühlfeld, a clarinetist in the court orchestra in Meiningen, inspired Brahms to compose his Clarinet Trio (op. 114) and Clarinet Quintet (op. 115).
