Two Clarinet Quartets
B. H. Crusell - No. 3 in D Major
F. V. Krommer - D Major
Bernhard Henrik Crusell, clarinetist and composer, was born on October 15, 1775 in Nystad, Finland and died on July 28, 1838 in Stockholm, Sweden. Although Crusell did compose for other instruments and won the Swedish Academy’s Gold Medal in 1837 for his Swedish translations of French, German and Italian operas, he is probably most remembered for his works for the clarinet, most of which were written between 1803 and 1812: 3 Concertos for Clarinet and Orchestra (Op. 1 in Eb Major, Op. 5 in F Minor and Op. 11 in Bb Major), a Symphonie Concertante (Op. 3, for clarinet, horn and bassoon), 3 Duets (Op. 6, for two clarinets), Introduction and Variations (Op. 12, for clarinet and orchestra) and, of course, 3 Quartets (for clarinet, violin, viola and cello, Op. 2 in Eb Major, Op. 4 in C Minor and Op. 7 in D Major).
Most of the major works for the clarinet were written for clarinetist who were friends of the composers: W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) wrote his Trio, K. 498 (for clarinet, viola & piano), Quintet, K. 581 (for clarinet & strings) and Concerto, K. 622, for clarinetist Anton Stadler (1753-1812); Ludwig Spohr (1784-1859) wrote 4 Concertos and various other solos for clarinetist Johann Hermstedt (1778-1846); Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) wrote his Concertino, Op. 26, Variations, Op. 33 (for clarinet & piano), Quintet, Op. 34 (for clarinet & strings) and 2 Concertos, Op. 73 & 74 for clarinetist Heinrich Baermann (1784-1847); and Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote his Trio, Op. 114 (for clarinet, cello & piano), Quintet, Op. 115 (for clarinet & strings) and Two Sonatas, Op. 120 (for clarinet & piano) for clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld (1856-1907). Of these clarinetists, only Heinrich Baermann also composed for the clarinet.
Crusell’s Chamber music is interesting, in that, Crusell, quite correctly, treated all of the instruments relatively equally. Many works for clarinet and strings, Weber’s Clarinet Quintet (Op. 34) for example, focus almost exclusively on the clarinet, relegating the strings to merely accompaniment; however, most of Crusell’s Chamber works for clarinet and strings have interesting and challenging parts for not only the clarinet but also the strings too, especially Clarinet Quartet No. 3.
Crusell played an 11-keyed clarinet made by the Berlin instrument maker Heinrich Grenser - a fact worth remembering when performing his works on a modern Boehm system clarinet with 17 keys and 6 rings.
Franz Vinzenz Krommer, violinist, organist and composer, was born on November 27, 1759 in Kamenice u Trebíce, Czechoslovakia and died on January 8, 1831 in Vienna, Austria. Krommer’s name is also often seen as “Krommer-Kramár” because his actual name was Frantisek Vincenc Kramár.
From September 13, 1818 until his death, Krommer was the official director of Chamber Music for the Habsburg Emperors. Needless to say, in this capacity Krommer wrote a large quantity of chamber music, including five Clarinet Quartets (for clarinet, violin, viola & cello: 2 as op. 21 in 1802, op. 69, op. 82 in 1816 and op. 83) and a Clarinet Quintet (for clarinet and string quartet, op. 95).
Krommer was not very careful with his use of opus numbers, so there are two totally different works for each of the opus numbers 69, 83 & 95.
He also wrote many wind concertos: one for clarinet (op. 36 in 1803); 2 for two clarinets (op. 35 in 1802 and op. 91 in 1815); 2 for flute (op. 30 in 1802 and op. 86 - also arranged as a clarinet concerto); and 2 for oboe (op. 37 in 1803 and op. 52 in 1805 - also arranged as a clarinet concerto).
The scores included in this book show the original versions of the quartets using Clarinet in A; the MIDI accompaniment is for Bb Clarinet and Clarinet in A (which is contained in a folder - see inside back cover). The clarinet part is, of course, the same, regardless of which accompaniment is used.
Book - 48 pages - 9”X12” - $19.95
CD - 32 Audio tracks & 8 MIDI Files
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