Weber: Complete Chamber Music for Clarinet

Carl Maria von Weber had a special fondness for the clarinet, finding it the ideal instrument for expressing the profound Romanticism he had made his own.

He borrowed from a youthful composition, his opera Silvana completed at the age of 24, for his Opus 33 Clarinet variations. Encouraged by critics to rework the opera's 'overly instrumental' vocal parts, he deleted two arias, but the following year reused the melody of the second of these for his Seven Variations for clarinet and piano Op.33 (1811). He develops the instantly hummable theme with its cheerful dotted rhythm stylishly, imaginatively and virtuosically, showcasing the full extent of the clarinettist's abilities while also allowing the piano to shine in two of the seven variations. The piece was premiered in Prague at a private residence by Weber and his friend and touring partner Heinrich Bärmann, whom he had met a few months earlier in Darmstadt. The clarinettist Bärmann had instantly won Weber over with his prodigious technique and highly expressive sound.

In 1815, Weber left Prague for Munich to meet with Bärmann, and there he composed the second and third movements of what would become the Grand Duo concertant Op.48 with the addition of an opening movement in November 1816. In this work Weber gets the very best out of two quintessentially Romantic instruments, but - well aware of his own abilities (Weber was an excellent concert pianist, with exceptionally large hands) - he also challenges himself with a demanding piano part, presenting two co-protagonists 'competing' enthusiastically with one another through myriad arpeggios, scales and virtuoso passages.