Ikeda Bonsamnang - clarinet
Anton Isselhardt – flute
Issei Sakano - piano
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
3 Romances Op.94 / 1849
1. Nicht schnell (not fast)
2. Einfach, innig (simple, heartfelt)
3. Nicht schnell
This gentle trio of romances was composed in 1849 at the end of Schumann’s composing life, just before his mental health problems overwhelmed him to the point that he needed to be committed to an institution. They were originally published as pieces for oboe but have been adopted by violinists, as well as wind players(flute), to enrich their respective repertoires. The affectionate tone of these pieces is in keeping with what appears to have been their initial purpose: they were composed in December and Schumann is said to have given them to his wife Clara as a Christmas present.
Clara Schumann (1819-1906)
3 Romances, Op.22 / 1858
1. Andante molto(piano solo)
2. Allegretto
3. Leidenschaftlich schnell
Clara Schumann was a German pianist, composer and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over a 61-year concert career, changing the format and repertoire of the piano recital from displays of virtuosity to programs of serious works.
She grew up in Leipzig, where her father, Friedrich Wieck, was a professional pianist and teacher, and her mother an accomplished singer. She was a child prodigy, trained by her father. She began touring at age eleven, and was successful in Paris and Vienna, among other cities. She married composer Robert Schumann, and the couple had eight children. Together, they encouraged Johannes Brahms and maintained a close relationship with him. She premiered many works by her husband and by Brahms in public
The Romances OP.22 (originally for violin and piano) were composed in a private back room of the Schumann residence where she could practice without bothering her husband. She took the pieces on tour with the great violinist Joseph Joachim, for whom they were written, and Joachim continued to play the pieces on his own tours. He reported from the court in Hannover that the king was in ‘ecstasy’ over the Romances and could ‘hardly wait’ to enjoy such ‘marvelous, heavenly pleasure again.’ They are lovely, private pieces, conceived in one of music history’s richest households.
1. Andante molto
2. Allegretto
3. Leidenschaftlich schnell
Johannes Brahms (1833 -1897)
Clarinet Sonata Op120-1 / 1894
1. Allegro appassionato
2. Andante un poco Adagio
3. Vivace
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 97) wrote the Sonatas for Clarinet (or Viola) and Piano op. 120 during the summer of 1894 in Ischl, directly motivated by a renewed encounter with Richard Mühlfeld, the clarinettist of the Meiningen Hofkapelle. Mühlfeld’s incomparable playing had already inspired Brahms to compose the Clarinet Trio op. 114 and the Clarinet Quintet op. 115 in 1891. Sketches have come down to
us – which is very rare for Brahms – of the first and third movements of the f-minor Sonata. The like- wise preserved autograph scores, probably the first complete versions of the two pieces, and the clarinet parts written out by the composer himself, were finished by the second half of August 1894 at the latest. On 26 August Brahms invited Mühlfeld to come for a visit in Ischl but only revealed the reason in a postcard from 30 August: “I was not so preposterous as to write a clarinet concerto for you! If everything goes well, there will be two modest sonatas with piano!!!???” (Imogen Fellinger, Johannes Brahms und Richard Mühlfeld, in: Brahms- Studien, ed. by the Johannes-Brahms- Gesellschaft, vol. 4, Hamburg, 1981,
p. 86). Three weeks later, Mühlfeld met with Brahms in Berchtesgaden, where in the period between the 19th and 25th September the first rehearsals and private performances of the two Sonatas took place.
In November 1894 Brahms and Mühlfeld played the new Sonatas at least seven times in private performances in Frankfurt on the Main (at the home of Clara Schumann), as well as in Meiningen and at Altenstein Castle, the country estate of the Duke of Meiningen.
Read more at https://www.henle.de/us/detail/?Title=Clarinet+Sonata+op.+120_988
