Winds of Change

Robert Schumann

Born: June 8, 1810, Zwickau, Germany
Died: July 29, 1856, Endenich, Germany

Schumann was one of the quintessential artists of music’s Romantic era. Encouraged in a range of studies by his writer/publisher father, Schumann became a law student at the University of Leipzig. But music was his first love. He studied piano with Friedrich Wieck, and later married Wieck’s daughter Clara, one of the finest pianists of her time. Schumann’s own efforts to become a piano virtuoso were foiled when he developed partial paralysis of his right hand, so he focused on composing and writing. His music was often written in feverish bursts of activity – 1840, for instance, saw the creation of over 140 songs, and 1842 was a year of chamber music. While he composed in larger forms such as opera, symphony, and concerto, many feel that Schumann’s true genius came to the fore in his songs and piano miniatures. As a critic he co-founded the influential Neue Zeitschrift für Musik and wrote articles praising composers like Chopin and Brahms. Having long suffered from mental problems, in 1854 Schumann tried to drown himself in the Rhine, and he spent his final years in an asylum.

3 Romances, Op. 94

Composed: 1849
Duration: 12 minutes

One of Schumann’s specialties was the “character piece,” brief, colorful works that evoke a specific mood or idea. Schumann wrote dozens of them, variously calling them Intermezzi, Fantasy Pieces, Märchenbilder (Fairy Tale Pictures), Romances, and so on. The three Romances for oboe and piano, Schumann’s only compositions for oboe, were composed very quickly, over just five days in December 1849, as a Christmas present for his wife Clara. When it came time to publish them, Schumann’s publisher Simrock also wanted to print versions that featured solo violin and clarinet. Schumann refused, saying “If I had originally written the work for violin or clarinet, it would have become a completely different piece.” Simrock ignored him, and published the violin alternative. While the oboe version is most often heard today, one also hears these pieces with solo violin, clarinet, or even flute or cello.

All three Romances are in a simple A-B-A form. In the serene first, the oboe presents the flowing, expressive main theme after a short introduction from the piano. The tempo speeds in the central section, followed by a return of that opening theme. A similar mood is evoked in the second piece, with its central section building a bit more tension with a couple of prominent tempo changes. The most spirited work in the set is the third, its outer sections contrasting a haunting opening phrase and livelier music with just a hint of agitation.

Camille Saint-Saëns

Born: October 9, 1835, Paris, France
Died: December 16, 1921, Algiers, Algeria

Regarded by Hans von Bülow as “the greatest musical mind” of his time, Camille Saint-Saëns composed over 300 works, among the best-known of which are the “Organ” Symphony No. 3, the opera Samson et Dalila, and, perhaps most famous of all, The Carnival of The Animals. Saint-Saëns was also one of the most renowned pianists and organists of his day – Hector Berlioz called him “an absolutely shattering master pianist.” A prodigy, Saint-Saëns started piano lessons at age two, composed his first music a year later, played his first full-length concert as a pianist at ten (where he offered as an encore to play any of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas from memory), and entered the Paris Conservatoire at thirteen. From 1853 to 1876 he held a number of church organist posts, and taught for four years at the École Niedermeyer. As he continued his busy career of composing and touring as a famous piano virtuoso, he was also able to pursue many non-musical interests: he spoke several languages, was an amateur astronomer and archaeologist, and wrote poetry, plays, and travel books.

Bassoon Sonata in G major, Op. 168

Composed: 1921
Duration: 13 minutes

Saint-Saëns composed the Bassoon Sonata over May and June of 1921, just months before his death in December of that year. As he wrote it, he was 85 years old, but still maintaining a rather busy schedule as a composer, conductor, and pianist. His last works were a set of sonatas for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, with that for bassoon being his final major completed composition (he had hoped, but didn’t live long enough to compose, further sonatas for flute and English horn). As he said in a letter to a friend, “I am using my last energies to add to the repertoire for these otherwise neglected instruments.” Saint-Saëns dedicated the Bassoon Sonata to Clément-Léon Letellier, a friend who taught bassoon at the Paris Conservatoire and served as principal bassoon at the Paris Opéra and the Société des Concerts.

The Sonata’s short opening movement moves easily between major and minor modes as it sets a gentle mood, only briefly building to a climax of sorts. Also alternating between major and minor passages is the sprightly second movement. The final movement opens with an extended slow section, with a decorative bassoon melody over a simple chordal accompaniment from the piano, before the work ends with a lively, fast-paced last minute or so. One commentator aptly described this charming work as “a model of transparency, vitality and lightness.”

Johannes Brahms

Born: May 7, 1833, Hamburg, Germany
Died: April 3, 1897, Vienna, Austria

His inclusion with Bach and Beethoven in the famous triumvirate of composers known as the “Three Bs” illustrates the stature of Johannes Brahms as one of the greatest of all composers. Dedicated to the style and musical values of important Classical era predecessors such as Beethoven and Mozart, Brahms also brought to his compositions an expansiveness of form and richness of harmony characteristic of the Romantic period in which he lived. A child prodigy, Brahms earned a living from his teens playing piano in theaters and taverns. Around the age of twenty, Brahms met the famous violinist Joseph Joachim in Hamburg, who in turn introduced him to Robert Schumann. Schumann became Brahms’ most important mentor, and Schumann’s wife Clara became his lifelong friend and closest confidant. Brahms ultimately settled in Vienna, where he was a very familiar figure for his last 35 or so years of life. His compositions in all the major genres of the day (other than opera, which he never attempted) have become significant parts of the standard repertoire.

Clarinet Sonata in F minor, Op. 120/1

Composed: 1894
Duration: 23 minutes

It is a fascinating coincidence that both Mozart and Brahms, late in their lives, encountered great clarinetists that inspired them to create some of their most beautiful music. In the case of Brahms, it was Richard Mühlfeld (1856-1907), principal clarinetist in the Meiningen Court Orchestra that had premiered several of Brahms’s works, including Symphony No. 4 in 1885. Brahms developed great affection for Mühlfeld, sometimes referring to him as “Fräulein Klarinette” or “Fräulein Nachtigall” (Nightingale) because of the delicate quality of his sound. By late 1890, after the completion of his String Quintet No. 2, Brahms felt that he had retired from composing. But in March 1891, he spent a week at the Meiningen court attending an arts and music festival at which Mühlfeld performed, and he was struck once again by the beauty of his playing. Inspired, by November Brahms had completed the Clarinet Trio, Op. 114 and the Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115, and three years later came the two Op. 120 Clarinet Sonatas, both written in July of 1894. Mühlfeld and Brahms presented the first performance of the Sonatas on January 11, 1895 in Vienna. Brahms also arranged the Sonatas for viola or violin, and both of those arrangements are heard now and then.

The F minor sonata is in four movements. The noble stride of the first takes on a stormy quality at times, while also relaxing for more lyrical passages. After an introduction in octaves from the piano, the clarinet enters with the first main theme, which it continues to embellish as the piano repeats it. A second theme, marked marcato, is more strongly accented. Elements of those themes are developed before they return in their original form. The slow second movement is nocturnal and melancholy. Opening with a descending idea that is repeated twice, the music then becomes more agitated before the opening music returns.

Like the second movement, the third is largely in a major key. It’s a lighthearted Intermezzo in the style of a Ländler, the Austrian folk dance that so often inspired Brahms as well as Franz Josef Haydn and Franz Schubert before him. The energetic, impetuous Finale largely carries on in the major mode. Appearing three times in a sort of rondo form, the playful opening section features several repetitions of three accented F notes that become an important motif throughout. Two more leisurely interludes provide contrast. One commentator has said that the two Clarinet Sonatas represent “the zenith of Brahms’s compositional technique, obtaining a maximum of expression from a minimum of gestures.”