Overture Magazine: 2017-2018 Season March - April 2018 | Page 25

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MODE EAD
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Instrumentation: Three flutes including piccolo,
two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass
clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, six horns,
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three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani,
percussion, harp and strings.
CLARINET CONCERTO NO. 2
IN E-FLAT MAJOR
Carl Maria von Weber
Born in Eutin, Germany, November 18, 1786;
died in London, England, June 5, 1826
Most composers at the turn of the 19 th
century were writing concertos for piano
or violin. But for Carl Maria von Weber, a
composer with a keen ear for instrumental
color, the wind instruments were far more
alluring than the strings. And of all the wind
instruments, his favorite was the clarinet
with its rich, fruity timbre and its fascinating
contrasts between highest and lowest
registers. Weber was also more drawn to
the world of theater and opera than to that
of the concert hall, and in his operas Der
Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon, he created
a template for German Romantic opera,
setting the stage for Wagner’s innovations.
In 1811, Weber became a close friend
and musical partner of Heinrich Bärmann,
Germany’s greatest clarinetist of the era.
At the court of King Maximilian of Bavaria
in Munich, Bärmann had been appointed
first clarinet of the king’s orchestra. Weber
composed a shorter Clarinet Concertino
for him to play for Maximilian, which so
delighted the king that he immediately
commissioned Weber to write two full-
length concertos for Bärmann and the
court orchestra. Both were completed and
premiered in Munich in November of that
year. Both were enthusiastically received and
have become classics of the clarinetist’s art.
Bärmann was renowned for the almost
vocal effect he was able to achieve in
his playing, and that suited Weber’s
interests perfectly. As Weber scholar
John Warrack has pointed out, Weber
demonstrated in his clarinet concertos
a remarkable ability to turn his soloist
into a dramatic character who virtually
speaks to us. He was also a masterful
orchestrator, using his richly colored
orchestra to establish the scene as well.
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