Clarinet Trio (Brahms)

The Trio for clarinet, cello and piano in A minor, Op. 114, was one of four chamber works featuring clarinet composed by Johannes Brahms in rapid succession after emerging from retirement toward the end of his life.

Brahms was inspired to compose these works by the playing of clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld.^[1] In November 1891 Mühlfeld participated in the first private performance, in Meiningen, with Robert Hausmann on cello and Brahms on piano. The following month they had a triumph with the public premiere in Berlin.

The clarinet in this Trio can also be substituted with a viola.

It is one of a small number of compositions for clarinet, cello and piano, and one of the very few to have entered the standard repertoire. Eusebius Mandyczewski, a scholar and friend of Brahms, wrote of the trio that "It is as though the instruments were in love with each other." ^[1]

The work consists of 4 movements:

Allegro (in A minor, ending in A major)
Adagio (in D major)
Andantino grazioso - Trio (in A major)
Allegro (in A minor).

The trio is known for its bare and simple themes, although the composition as a whole is far from unremarkable. In the opening movement, Brahms infuses the conventional sonata form with a number of unconventional elements. One particularly unusual aspect of the movement is that the exposition section, which has modulated to E minor, ends with a plagal half-cadence (I-IV).^[2]

References

Notes

↑ 1.0 1.1 (Freed 2004)
↑ Notley, Margaret (2007). Lateness and Brahms: Music and Culture in the Twilight of Viennese Liberalism. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 90–92.

Sources

Freed, Richard (2004). "Program Notes: Clarinet Trio, Op. 114". Kennedy Center. Retrieved 2014-09-21.

External links

Clarinet Trio, Op.114: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Performance of Brahms' clarinet trio by the Oscine Trio on YouTube
"Description of the Autograph Score at the Munich State Library". RISM Online. 1891. Retrieved 2013-05-17.

Chamber music by Johannes Brahms

Duos	Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1 Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2 Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78 Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100 Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108

Trios	Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40 Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87 Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101 Piano Trio in A major, attributed to Brahms

Quartets	Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26 Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60 String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1 String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51 No. 2 String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat major, Op. 67

Quintets & Sextets	Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 String Quintet No. 1 in F major, Op. 88 String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18 String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36

List of compositions by Johannes Brahms by genre List of compositions by Johannes Brahms by opus number

Clarinet Trio (Brahms)

See also

References

External links