Robert Schumann composed his Märchenbilder (Fairy-Tale Pictures) in just a few days in March 1851.
Instruments
Violist James Ehnes performs on this recording using the 1696 'Archinto' Stradivari viola, on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.
Composition History
The four works Brahms composed for Richard Mühlfeld—a trio, a quintet, and two sonatas—were his last chamber compositions.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Schumann's Märchenbilder are imbued with a potent sense of fantasy, with no specific stories attached, leaving the imagination free.
Composition History
Johannes Brahms, planning his retirement in 1891, was inspired to compose again after hearing Richard Mühlfeld, principal clarinettist of the Meiningen Court Orchestra.
Compositional Technique
Brahms's original scoring for clarinet in the two sonatas of 1894 exploits rapid arpeggios and the instrument's ease in moving between registers, using octave displacement to enhance expressive tension.
Composer Biography
Richard Mühlfeld, who inspired Brahms's late chamber works, was originally a violinist who taught himself the clarinet in three years.
