Brahms- Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet in B minor, op. 115 Part I
Brahms wrote his Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet after a performance of Carl Maria von Weber’s Clarinet Concerto in F Minor, performed by the principle clarinetist of the Meiningen Court Orchestra Richard Muhlfield. He was so enthralled by Muhlfield’s performance that Brahms claimed it was “impossible to play the clarinet better” and referred to him as “Fraulein Nightingale.”
The quintet was written in 1891, 6 years before the composer’s death in 1897. A wistful, autumnal character is evident through the entire piece- a mood which suits the soft, round timbre of the clarinet better than perhaps any other instrument.
I. Allegro
Sonata form
The quintet opens with two violins playing theme one- an undulating melody that is centered on an F#. It is immediately sequenced downwards before a slow, rocking series of descents. The clarinet enters with an ascending arpeggio to play the principle motive of theme one over string ascents. The clarinet descends and plays a pedal F# (0:32) before the strings play dotted rising and falling figures. The first violin enters with a lonely descent that soon rises and falls again to theme one rhythms over rolling clarinet harmonies.
At 1:00 the transition begins with a loud, tutti chord. A tutti rhythm dominates the first part of the transition, which is soon colored by rapid ascents and descents in the various instruments in the quintet. Another rhythmic passage in the low strings (1:19) is soon joined by the upper strings before the ascending and descending lines briefly return in the low strings and clarinet.
A gently swaying cello bass line supports theme two, begun with a short ascent in the viola and violin which is soon brought back down by a series of 3-note descents from the clarinet. Melodic material alternates between the different voices throughout this section. A rising line in the upper voices is answered by offbeats in the cello (1:57). The cello is joined by the clarinet as the line rises the second time, resolving to a theme-one based passage in the clarinet.
The exposition’s coda begins at 2:25 with bold 3-note figures in the violin. These repeat for several measures over offbeat accompaniment in the lower voices. Ascents and descents in the strings lead to a clarinet passage (2:45) that descends to theme one in the strings.
The exposition is repeated faithfully.
The development begins at 5:35 with the clarinet arpeggio from the beginning of the piece echoed by the low strings. Pedal pitches in the upper voices cover theme one in the cello before the theme moves to the violin. The cello begins urgent-sounding theme one motives (6:02) over ever-louder chords from the rest of the quintet before they too begin repeating theme one motives. A pseudofugue-sounding blend of theme one motives in the strings at 6:20 is shortened into three-note ascents and descents by the violin before a forceful arpeggio from the violin calms the pace and resolves to slow cello and viola notes (6:47).
Over a soft dotted accompaniment a hushed, almost reverent melodic figure is heard low in the violin and soon echoed by the clarinet. This idea is extended and sequenced upwards (7:11) with its elements shared between the violin and clarinet as the rhythmic accompaniment becomes more pronounced. This momentary parting of the clouds is short lived, as one last cheerful high note from the clarinet at 7:38 is almost instantly tinted by the violin. Clarinet and violin play several sustains followed by tumbling descents. Fragmented theme one motives return in the strings (7:55) and are soon taken up by the clarinet. Descending trills in the clarinet and viola (8:26) land at the recapitulation.
Beginning at 8:32, the recapitulation recalls the opening bars of the movement but then skips the ascending clarinet arpeggio heard previously, instead being followed by the clarinet echoing the violin descent/ascent from the exposition. The violin reclaims its theme at 8:46, leading into the transition at 9:08.
At 9:26 sharp three-note descents from the violins are whirled around by rapid ascents from the cello and viola, resolving to theme one motives in the low strings and clarinet. Melodic ideas are shared between the strings and clarinets for several bars before another clarinet/cello alternating ascent at 10:00. The violin joins the clarinet in an alternating ascent before the recapitulation’s coda begins with the same 3-note figures in the violin heard at the end of the exposition (10:27).
The coda begins with a staccato rhythmic figure (10:45) in the lower voices over which various string combinations play slow trill motives. Frantic ascents and descents in the strings over bustling accompaniment lead to a grand reprise of theme one (11:01) in the violins and clarinet. A trill-based figure in the violins over a heavy, rhythmic figure in the bass soon smoothes out to four-note figures accented on the last note (11:20). Ascents that sequence throughout the strings lead to theme one in the violins with fragments played in the other strings. The clarinet enters once again with lamenting descents (11:43), ending on a haunting F#.
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If you are interested in listening to a recording, I recommend Stanley Drucker’s
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