Clarinettist Sarah Beaty performing David Bruces Gumboots with Ensemble Connect
Chamber music is the most intimate of art forms. Ensembles are, by design, small enough to fit into a room (or ‘chamber’) making it suitable for smaller gatherings or simply a form of entertainment between musical friends.
Whilst much chamber music focuses on strings, the clarinet has also been a popular chamber music instrument since its invention in the early 18th century. It’s both mellow enough to blend in, but distinct enough to add to the overall colour of an ensemble.
Here are our picks of some of the greatest chamber works that include clarinet, some of which may be surprisingly familiar. You’ll also find some exclusive arrangements of these works, so you won’t need to form your own chamber ensemble to play them!
Mozart wasn’t exactly an early adopter of the clarinet, the instrument having been invented long before he was born, but he certainly elevated its importance by writing some great works for it. These include one of the most beloved chamber works in the repertoire, his Clarinet Quintet, K.581. In four movements, it is a work of grace, lyricism and balance. If you’re not sure whether you’ve heard it before, start with the familiar last movement, a set of attractive variations on a delightfully rustic theme.
Though not as celebrated as his sublime Quintet, Mozart’s Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano is nevertheless a marvellous work, featuring some delicate and charming interplay between the instruments. The pieced was written for the pianist Franziska von Jacquin, with Mozart himself playing viola and Anton Stadler (for whom Mozart also wrote K.581) on clarinet.
Beethoven’s Clarinet Trio in B-flat, written in 1797 is an early chamber masterpiece dedicated his patron Countess Maria Wilhelmine von Thun. It derives its nickname ‘Gassenhauer’ from the last movement, a theme and variations that uses a popular opera tune of the day. It has an especially exquisite second movement with a lovely opening cello solo that blossoms into a dialogue between clarinet and cello.
Mendelssohn – Konzertstück No. 1 & No. 2 for Clarinet, Basset Horn, and Piano, Op. 113 & 114
The story behind Mendelssohn’s Konzertstück No. 1 is amongst the most whimsical in music history. When clarinetist Heinrich Joseph Baermann and his basset horn-playing son Carl were entertained at Mendelssohn’s home one evening they promised to make him a portion of his favourite steamed pudding if Mendelssohn wrote them something to play. The result, written in the same evening, was this piece. They were so delighted with the result that they prevailed upon him to write a second, which became Konzertstück No.2. The two pieces remain popular amongst clarinet and basset horn players. The first is fiery, intense yet playful; the second more lyrical and conversational in tone.
By 1890 Brahms had decided to retire from composing. In 1891, however, he heard the clarinetist Richard Mühfeld play and was moved to write several works for him. These were the Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Op 114; Clarinet Sonatas No.1 and No.2, Op. 120; and this magnificent Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op.115. The piece is full of typical Brahmsian stylistic traits, including rich harmonic textures, expressive melodies and a sense of nostalgia—the work especially looks back towards Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. Like that piece the first movement opens with strings alone, which setting a melancholic atmosphere. Also like Mozart, it is ends with a set of theme and variations, though the autumnal atmosphere of the opening continues to dominate.
David Bruce – Gumboots (2008)
Our final selection is much more recent. Gumboots is a clarinet quintet by British composer David Bruce, inspired by the joyful dance tradition from South Africa, Gumboot Dancing, that emerged out of the apauling work conditions of black minors in Apartheid South Africa. A gentle and emotive first movement leads to five short and increasingly lively dances, culminating in a finale where, as one reviewer put it, "listeners leaped to their feet, screaming and shouting, like they'd been blown out of aircraft ejection seats." Gumboots become a staple of the clarinet repertoire in recent years, and it also just happens to be written by 8notes.com founder David Bruce
