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Thea King, Clifford Benson - Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Sonatas (1986) Reissue 2004

Posted By: Designol

Date: 24 Mar 2024 11:52:44

Thea King, Clifford Benson - Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Sonatas (1986) Reissue 2004

Brahms’s two sonatas for clarinet and piano, Op 120, composed in 1894, were followed only by the four Serious Songs and a set of organ chorale preludes (some of which may have been written at earlier times). His farewell to chamber music was also his farewell gift to the clarinet. The two works recorded here were preceded by the Clarinet Trio in A minor (Op 114) and the great Clarinet Quintet in B minor (Op 115), and all four masterpieces were inspired by the playing of Richard Mühlfeld, principal clarinettist of the Meiningen Orchestra.

Brahms’s orchestral music had always clearly displayed a sympathy for the clarinet, and it is perhaps not surprising that he should in the end have turned to it rather than to any other woodwind instrument. That might have been the case even without Mühlfeld’s influence, and there can be no doubt that H C Colles was right in saying of the Quintet: ‘Had Brahms never heard of the great clarinettist that music must have been expressed somehow.’

The two sonatas are not on the same scale as the Quintet, but match the fine and insufficiently appreciated Trio in scope. They are strongly contrasted in key and mood, and each sonata internally varies its character somewhat unexpectedly. The broad and firmly outlined first movement of the F minor, serious but not tragic, is followed by two gently flowing middle movements that suggest no deep problems of any kind; these make way for a vigorously cheerful finale. As if in response to this mood, the first movement of the E flat sonata is amiable and unemphatic, only to be succeeded by one of Brahms’s more passionate scherzos. There are only three movements, and the last is a set of variations on a quietly floating theme, becoming more energetic towards the end.

Clarinet Sonata in F minor Op 120 No 1
The concentration of thought is clear at the outset in the avoidance of repetition; the clarinet continues rather than echoes or counterstates the theme first given out by the piano, and the whole movement proceeds in this way with dignified, serious energy. Nothing is wasted, and the first movement development is a model of perfectly graded but surprisingly swift growth. The moment of reprise is unobtrusive, and the whole recapitulation is condensed to make way for a gentler, more expansive coda, Sostenuto ed espressivo.

Although the slow second movement in A flat gives the impression of dreamy ease, it is also economical, and its return to the main theme through a foreign key characteristically saves space as it suggests leisure (one thinks of the slow movement of the Piano Concerto No 2). With the lyrical Allegretto grazioso we stay in A flat, and the F minor of the trio, with its syncopated accompaniment, is the last extended use of the tonic minor in the whole work.

The exuberant finale, Vivace, is in F major and its second subject looks like being one of those gloriously expansive Brahmsian themes in swinging triplets. But with the economy typical of this work, Brahms does not allow it to spread and it is soon invaded by terser action. At the end we feel that, although the sonata has been officially in F minor (Beethoven’s ‘barbarous’ key), it has been composed more with pleasure than pain.

Clarinet Sonata in E flat major Op 120 No 2
This music is less overtly determined than its companion, but no less terse in fact. The main theme stretches itself comfortably and does not eschew repetition like the one in the F minor sonata; it is also more persistent in the movement as a whole, especially its opening phrase. The development uses quick arpeggiated triplets that may remind the ear of Beethoven’s first Rasumovsky Quartet or of his Triple Concerto (the first movement in each) – Brahms was in any case so fond of this sort of locomotion that it by now had become purely characteristic of himself.

The other two movements are markedly contrasted with each other. The scherzo, Allegro appassionato, is in E flat minor and begins in a flowing vein that at first seems to follow easily what has gone before – but it becomes intense and full of measured energy, and there is a trio in B major, one of Brahms’s most splendid melodies. In the third movement, Andante con moto, he relaxes into five variations and coda on a beautiful theme that shows no inclination to activity until a stormy variation interrupts in E flat minor. But the sun soon comes out again, and the sonata ends happily, as it began.

Robert Simpson © 1986

Review by David Bryson

Assuming a reasonable price-tag, I can give this disc 5 stars. At 43 minutes' playing-time it couldn't be described as astoundingly well filled. There would have been space for the clarinet trio as well, which I see is available from the same artists on a disc with the clarinet quintet.

Brahms issued his sonatas op 120 in two separate editions, one for clarinet one for viola. A very recent live performance of the first by the principal clarinet of one of the world's greatest orchestras is still fresh in my mind, and I can report without hesitation that this account by Thea King is far better. Late Brahms has a twilight feel about it, although I believe this composer's musical gift, like Bach's or Mozart's or Schubert's, was more or less infinite and that he would have gone on composing, doubtless with a great deal of grumbling, if he had lived to be 80. These performances capture the sense of the two works as I understand it. There is still plenty of power in them as well as the autumnal feel, witness some hefty writing for the piano in the two first movements in particular. Thea King's tone is clean and precise rather than outstandingly warm or seductive, but if that is any kind of fault at all for me it's a fault of the right kind in this music. Nothing is done the wrong way so far as I'm concerned, although I might have welcomed a bit more heartfelt Brahmsian lyricism from Benson in the trio section in the middle movement of the E flat. It crossed my mind that it would be interesting to hear Kissin play that, but this was pure fancy on my part, and for all I know it might be pure illusion too. One important test for me is that the fast movements should be kept moving and not allowed to sag. The closing vivace of the F minor passes this test with flying colours, and so does the allegretto preceding it, where I particularly enjoyed the warmth of the players' tone.

The recorded tone is very faithful and good, if not exactly spectacular. The liner note is of a kind with which I'm wearily familiar - the sentiments are vague and conventional, and the music under discussion might be more or less anything. The performance is thing that matters. To me this is something like a textbook example of how it ought to go.

Review by David Bryson

Review by Joan Chissell, Gramophone

I think the current catalogue still lacks the ideal performance of these two sonatas. When it does come, I hope its sound may be enhanced by CD. In the meantime we're able to choose between three enjoyable LP recordings—all of them from such trustworthy musicians that choice is predominately a matter of personal taste. Since it was the actual timbre of the clarinet (or at any rate as experienced by Brahms from Richard Muhlfeld, first clarinettist in the Meiningen Court Orchestra) that inspired not just these two late works and the trio but also that haunting masterpiece, the Clarinet Quintet as well, I'm bound to say that I myself would turn to the version that most reminded me of the instrument's tonal beauty and range. That, surely, comes from Leister on Orfeo, whose liquid flow and keen ear for colour contrasts finds outlet in beautifully tapered phrasing. Always more than ready to assume the lead when required, his pianist, Oppitz, is a true partner, in intimate exchanges showing a superfine ear for matched and blended colour as well as all else. The recording brings up both instruments with three-dimensional clarity.

Much as I admired Thea King's control of a considerably dynamic range, particularly her soft playing, I did find her tone just a bit more reedy, less sensuously seductive, than Leister's. Nor does she produce such ear-catching contrasts of colour, or phrasing quite as long-breathed and liquid. But sound is of course not the whole story. Both King and Benson are just as caring Brahmsians, and their teamwork is close. Benson is certainly luckier than Peter Frankl (Chandos) in the actual reproduction of his instrument, even if his playing evokes a slightly older, less easily inflammable Brahms than the one we meet from both Frankl and Oppitz.

All three teams prefer a safe middle course in response to the composer's tempo headings (by this time he had no more use for the metronome). I would have liked a little more urgency from them all in the F minor Sonata's opening Allegro appassionato, also the similarly headed Scherzo in the Second Sonata. For that Scherzo's central trio, marked sostenuto, I think King and Benson, like Leister and Oppitz, adopt a dispoportionately slow tempo. While allowing themselves some leeway, Hilton and Frankl are more discerning here in realizing that it was primarily a change of mood, rather than speed, that Brahms was after. But in the First Sonata's spirited F major finale I was glad to find King and Benson keeping rhythm taut throughout, like Hilton and Frankl, instead of relaxing in lyrical episodes like Leister and Oppitz.

In sum, then, a roundabouts and swings situation, with a lot more to praise than to condemn all round. Yet, like SP when these sonatas last came up a couple of years ago, I still wish that all contenders had been ''bolder in pursuit of character''. None, I feel, quite discovers the full inner intensity beneath the outward restraint, even when Brahms was smiling—as in the E flat's radiant opening Allegro amabile.'

Review by Joan Chissell, Gramophone

Johannes Brahms at Allmusic
Johannes Brahms at Wiki

Thea King at Allmusic
Thea King at Wiki

Clifford Benson at Allmusic

Tracklist:

Sonata No.1 in F minor
01. 1. Allegro appassionato (07:45)
02. 2. Andante un poco adagio (05:02)
03. 3. Allegretto grazioso (04:24)
04. 4. Vivace (05:15)

Sonata No.2 in E flat major
05. 1. Allegro amabile (08:12)
06. 2. Allegro appassionato (05:20)
07. 3. Andante con moto - Allegro (07:30)

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Thea King, Clifford Benson / Brahms - Clarinet sonatas

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foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-12-02 21:30:43

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Analyzed: Thea King, Clifford Benson / Brahms - Clarinet sonatas
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR12 -2.65 dB -20.96 dB 7:46 01-Sonata No.1 in F minor - 1. Allegro appassionato
DR13 -9.30 dB -28.85 dB 5:02 02-Sonata No.1 in F minor - 2. Andante un poco adagio
DR12 -5.92 dB -23.60 dB 4:24 03-Sonata No.1 in F minor - 3. Allegretto grazioso
DR13 -3.08 dB -21.34 dB 5:15 04-Sonata No.1 in F minor - 4. Vivace
DR13 -2.96 dB -23.33 dB 8:13 05-Sonata No.2 in E flat major - 1. Allegro amabile
DR13 -2.07 dB -21.43 dB 5:20 06-Sonata No.2 in E flat major - 2. Allegro appassionato
DR14 -2.49 dB -23.53 dB 7:31 07-Sonata No.2 in E flat major - 3. Andante con moto - Allegro
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================================================================================

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