Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix - "Konzertstück" for Clarinets & Piano Opus 114 No. 2 2 Clarinettes et 1 Piano |
Compositeur : | Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix (1809 - 1847) | ||||
Instrumentation : | 2 Clarinettes et 1 Piano | ||||
Genre : | Romantique | ||||
Arrangeur : Editeur : | MAGATAGAN, MICHAEL (1960 - ) | ||||
Date : | 1833 | ||||
Droit d'auteur : | Public Domain | ||||
Ajoutée par magataganm, 07 Aoû 2013 Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 – 1847), born, and generally known in English-speaking countries, as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn was a true Renaissance man. A talented visual artist, he was a refined connoisseur of literature and philosophy. While Mendelssohn's name rarely arises in discussions of the nineteenth century vanguard, the intrinsic importance of his music is undeniable. A distinct personality emerges at once in its exceptional formal sophistication, its singular melodic sense, and its colorful, masterful deployment of the instrumental forces at hand. A true apotheosis of life, Mendelssohn's music absolutely overflows with energy, ebullience, drama, and invention, as evidenced in his most enduring works: the incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826-1842); the Hebrides Overture (1830); the Songs Without Words (1830-1845); the Symphonies No. 3 (1841-1842) and No. 4 (1833); and the Violin Concerto in E minor (1844). While the sunny disposition of so many of Mendelssohn's works has led some to view the composer as possessing great talent but little depth, his religious compositions -- particularly the great oratorios Paulus (1836) and Elijah (1846) -- reflect the complexity and deeply spiritual basis of his personality. In December 1832 and January 1833, Mendelssohn wrote a pair of works for a trio of clarinet, piano, and the now nearly arcane basset horn: the Concert Piece No. 1 in F major, Op. 113, and the Concert Piece No. 2 in D minor, Op. 114. Mendelssohn dispatched these two works immediately upon completion to clarinetist Heinrich Baermann and his son Carl, a basset horn player, who were touring Germany and Russia at the time. As tokens of the composer's personal friendship with the Baermanns (and his desire to help young Carl establish his career as a professional composer), the two Concert Pieces stand as the only compositions for basset horn in Mendelssohn's oeuvre. The piece under consideration here, the first in Op. 113, is cast in three brief movements. The first, marked Allegro con fuoco, begins and ends with dramatic recitative-like exchanges between the clarinet and basset horn, establishing a vocally oriented approach to melody. The alternately turbulent and triumphant middle section demonstrates Mendelssohn's characteristic knack for creating textural interplay between monodic instrumental lines and piano accompaniment. The Andante middle movement finds the two woodwinds more closely allied, following tranquil melodies in lush, parallel thirds and sixths above a gentle pitter-patter of piano arpeggios. The pensive minor-mode stirrings that open the final movement cast a temporary shadow over the tranquil glow of the slow movement's final strains, but after a few uneasy recitative exchanges and a chromatic buildup, the clouds part for a playful Presto. The woodwinds assume a more extrovert, sometimes even playfully competitive character here, tossing rapid figurations and scales back and forth, facing off with breakneck runs in contrary motion -- one imagines the seasoned performer Heinrich Baermann and the young up-and-comer Carl bringing this piece to a rousing close. Although originally created for Bb Clarinet, Basset Horn and Piano, I created this arrangement for Bb Clarinets (2) and Piano. Partition centrale : | Concert Piece No.2 (2 partitions) | |
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