Schumann & Brahms: Pieces for Clarinet & Piano Charles West & Susan Grace

• 1 No. 1. Zart und mit Ausdruck 03:04
• 2 No. 2. Lebhaft, leicht 03:13
• 3 No. 3. Rasch und mit Feuer 03:59
• 4 I. Allegro appassionato 07:06
• 5 II. Andante un poco adagio 04:31
• 6 III. Allegretto grazioso 04:12
• 7 IV. Vivace 04:54
• 8 I. Allegro amabile 07:35
• 9 II. Allegro appassionato 04:46
• 10 III. Andante con moto - Allegro 06:42
• Total Runtime 50:02

Info for Schumann & Brahms: Pieces for Clarinet & Piano

Fantasy-Pieces, op. 73: The winter of 1848-49 saw an especially prolific period in Robert Schumann's compositional life. During two days in February (the 11th and 12th), he produced his Fantasiestücke, followed a few days later by the Adagio and Allegro for horn and piano, and the Konzertstück for four horns and orchestra. With the horn work, the Fantasiestücke are normally enumerated with Schumann's lesser chamber works--the greater chamber works having already been written during a period of intense activity in this genre some seven years earlier. They may be considered to be experimental, with certain oddities immediately apparent. The traditional fast-slow-fast arrangement of movements was abandoned in favor of a relatively slow-medium-fast design. Originally called Soireestücke, these pieces were published during the year in which they were written, with ad lib alternative parts for violin or violoncello.

Sonatas, op. 120: One of the remarkable musical personalities of the Nineteenth Century must have been Richard Mühlfeld, whose warm, affable nature and consummate artistry rekindled Brahms’ intention to compose chamber music. In 1890, Brahms' G Major string quartet, op. 111 was sent to his publisher, Simrock, with a note saying that “the time has now come for you to say good-bye to any further compositions of mine.” The composer's regard for Mühlfeld can be inferred from the nicknames “Fraülein von Mühlfeld, meine Primadonna” and “Fraülein Nachtigall” that Brahms affectionately awarded the artist. The four monuments to the respect that Brahms held for Mühlfeld are the only four chamber works written after 1890, all involving the clarinet and all masterworks in their own rights. The profound B Minor Quintet (1891), op. 115 universally receives the highest praise among performers and writers. That the A Minor Trio, op. 114 (1891) is overshadowed by the Quintet owes not so much to the trio's lack of inspiration or craftsmanship as to the Quintet's sheer greatness.

Following at three years’ distance (1894) were the Sonatas of op.120, in F minor and E flat major. Brahms’ assertion that his op. 120 was to have been played by “piano and Mühlfeld” rather than simply by clarinet and piano leaves little doubt that the composer was fully aware of Mühlfeld's gifts. The four movements of the F Minor Sonata are cast in well-proven classical forms: a sonata allegro, an Andante un poco adagio in song form, a traditional minuet-trio, and a rondo. One or another form of a three-note motive pervades the movements, from the descending clarinet figure at the outset and the rising ben marcato figure in the second key area to the opening three notes of the Andante, the group of eighths in the waltz, and finally to the triumphant piano figure in the Vivace. It was after a performance of this sonata by himself and Mühlfeld that Brahms took his final bow as a performer.

The Second Sonata begins in an another sonata allegro design, this time much more mellow in character than the F Minor's opening. However, the stürm and drang of the First Symphony and B Major Trio are recalled in the passionate second movement—similar in form to the third movement of the first sonata, but altogether different in character. The variation form which follows begins with Brahms’ familiar poco forte marking, applied to a three-beat motive in search of a downbeat. Throughout the first four variations, that downbeat is never found within the forte dynamic; the tune finds its home only within the gentler piano dynamic at the end of each section. The final variation, Allegro, becomes an affirmation of the cadential portion of the phrase, this time expressed in a stronger dynamic.

The E-flat sonata was the composer's final chamber work, and as one of his four final chamber works, completes the crowning jewels of the clarinetist's repertoire. (Notes by Charles West)

Charles West, clarinet
Susan Grace, piano

Digitally remastered

Charles West
As a solo clarinetist, Charles West has performed throughout the United States and Mexico, and in Asia and South America. Among the orchestral principal positions he has held are the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, and he currently performs as principal in the Flagstaff Festival Symphony Orchestra and with the Virginia Opera. As a performer of contemporary music he has held positions with the University of Iowa Center for New Music and is now in Richmond Virginia's new music ensemble CURRENTS. West was the first president of the combined International Clarinet Society/ClariNetwork International and he performs frequently on this organization's international convention programs.

Charles West is currently Professor of Clarinet at Virginia Commonwealth University. Previous appointments have included the University of Arizona, New Mexico State University, and Grinnell College. He holds the Doctorate in Performance and is a Fulbright Scholar. Having studied at the University of Iowa with Himie Voxman and at the University of Northern Colorado with Loren Bartlett, he has done additional study with Leon Russianoff and Robert Marcellus. West has published many articles and a composition for band, he has performed for national and international conventions of composers, teachers and performers.

Susan Grace
is Lecturer, Artist-in-Residence, and Director of Student Performance at Colorado College where she has been on the faculty since 1976. She is also Artistic Director of the Colorado College Summer Conservatory and Music Festival. She has been Principal Pianist for the Colorado Springs Symphony, Principal Accompanist for the Central City Opera, the Colorado Opera Festival, the Colorado Children's Chorale, and has performed with the National Affiliate Artist Program.

Ms. Grace studied at the University of Iowa with John Simms; she currently coaches with Benjamin Kaplan in London. She has performed solo recitals and appeared as soloist with orchestras in the United States and Europe. She has, in addition, earned recognition as a chamber music artist with performances in the Soviet Union, and China, and has performed in numerous festivals, including the Grand Teton Festival, the Music at Oxford and Helmsley Festivals in England, and the Astoria Concert Series in Brussels, Belgium. She has recorded for the Belgian National Radio and the American Society of University Composers. Ms. Grace is a member of The Colorado College Trio, Bricolage -- a piano-percussion duo specializing in new music, and Quattro Mani -- a two-piano ensemble with Alice Rybak.

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