Mendelssohn's 'Songs Without Words' are character pieces composed between 1829 and 1845, forming perhaps his most important contribution to the solo piano repertoire.
Compositional Technique
Mendelssohn's Clarinet Sonata, written when he was 15, features a cantabile (singing style) clarinet part and an equal chamber role for the piano, contrasting with the later, more virtuosic Concert Pieces.
Recording & Production
The 'Songs Without Words' on this recording were arranged for clarinet and piano by Robert Stark (1847-1922), a clarinettist and composer, sometimes involving key changes for the B flat clarinet.
Composition History
The Clarinet Sonata may have been written for Baron Karl von Kaskel, a Dresden banker and patron of the arts, which could explain its less technically demanding clarinet part.
Performer Biography
Dimitri Ashkenazy, the clarinetist on this album, was born in New York in 1969, grew up in Iceland and Switzerland, and is a polyglot interested in history, current affairs, literature, and art.
Composer Biography
The Concert Pieces were born from Mendelssohn's fondness for specific German and Austrian dishes, which he couldn't find in Berlin, leading to a culinary-musical exchange with the Baermanns.
Composition History
Mendelssohn composed two Concert Pieces for clarinet and basset horn as a playful exchange for 'Dampfnudeln' (steamed dumplings) and 'Rahmstrudel' (sweet-cheese strudel) prepared by the Baermann clarinet virtuosos.
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