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ABOUT THE PROGRAMBENJAMIN PESETSKY LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
CARL MARIA VON WEBER (1786–1826) Grand Duo Concertant for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 48
Carl Maria von Weber lived a troubled life that might be mistaken for a pastiche of composer-biography clichés. His ambitious father wanted him to be a child prodigy like Mozart; as a young man, he was arrested and fired from
a court position (for a complicated embezzlement and draft-dodging scheme to resolve a debt); he was often ill and died of tuberculosis at 39. But he was also an earnest soul who swore to redeem himself after his arrest, and became an important artist: his opera Die Freischütz is the work that launched German Romantic opera, and his clarinet pieces especially are gems of the repertoire.
By the time Weber completed the Grand Duo Concertant in 1816, he had already composed two clarinet concertos, a clarinet concertino, and a clarinet quintet. A cluster of solo works for a single instrument usually suggests an inspiring performer for which they were written: in this case, the culprit was Heinrich Baermann, the court clarinetist in Munich, whom Weber met in 1811.
Weber wrote the second and third movements of the Grand Duo first, probably in 1815, though some sources suggest they might date back to 1812. Weber premiered those movements with Baermann in 1815 before adding the first movement the following year.
The Grand Duo is an unusual piece that mixes virtuosic writing for both clarinet and piano into a concerto-like form of chamber-music size. Stylistically, it is neither a serious sonata nor exactly a light showpiece: while the opening Allegro con fuoco has a fleet-footed buoyancy, the plaintive Andante con moto adds weight, and the concluding Rondo has a sophisticated tension.
(1770–1827) Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Trio in B-flat Major for clarinet, cello, and piano dates to 1798, when he was a young free- lancer, still making his name in Vienna. The piece is in a light, cheerful vein and shows a composer eager to please: woodwind chamber music was something of a trend in Vienna at the time, and the trio’s last movement is a set of variations on a popular tune. Beethoven borrowed the mel- ody from L’amor marinaro, a comic opera by the composer Joseph Weigl (1766–1846). The song, “Pria ch’io l’impegno” (Before I go to work, I must have something to eat), was a runaway hit, becoming a Viennese “Gassenhauer,” or alley song, whistled and sung by workers and buskers in the streets. Beethoven’s Op. 11, therefore, is sometimes known as the “Gassenhauertrio.”
In addition to the popular-song finale, the trio includes a chipper Allegro and a beautiful, simple slow movement. Beethoven published the piece with an alternative violin part to increase sales, and it is sometimes performed with bassoon instead of cello.
The trio also figures in a story from 1800, two years after
its premiere, when it was performed by Beethoven at a private concert attended by another composer named Daniel Steibelt. Some of Beethoven’s friends thought Steibelt, who was known for his gaudy showmanship, was a professional threat to Beethoven. At a concert the following week, Steibelt played his own variations on the “Gassenhauer” theme, an ill-considered attempt at one-upmanship. This provoked Beethoven (after some prodding from the audience) to borrow the cello part to a piece by Steibelt,
turn it upside down, and then improvise spectacularly on the ridiculously inverted theme. Steibelt, it is said, walked out, and refused to ever be in the same room with Beethoven again.
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The Music at Tippet Rise