Both of Brahms’ clarinet sonatas, written for the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, are extremely valuable additions to the rep list of the collaborative pianist. Not only are they played very often in virtually all clarinet studios, but they are just as present in viola studios as well!
The works are not easy, but the opening movement of the Eb Major sonata has a number of passages that are made infinitely easier with a few useful hand divisions.
Tactile Tips - Make the First Movement So Much Easier...!
- Measures 15-16: In measure fifteen, the leap between the end of beat two into beat three is a breeding ground for all kinds of awkward moments. But what if this leap could be eliminated entirely? If the left hand sneaks up and takes the bottom E and F of the last two sixteenth notes, and remains in place to play the following F and Ab in the treble clef on beat three, this is possible! The left hand leaps that result have half a beat to occur, twice as long as the jump needed if the right hand takes the entire treble clef. A similar division can be performed in measure sixteen. Here the left hand sneaks up to play the two final, lower sixteenth notes of beat four (the D and Eb) and stays to strike the bottom two notes of the following chord. Although difficult to adapt to, this division removes any risk associated with these particular jumps.
- Measures 59-63: You won’t want to waste energy with so many right hand leaps after learning of this hand division! Look at the jump between the pickup into measure sixty (the octave D’s) and the respective downbeat. Play the lower note of this pick-up octave in your left hand and the upper note with your thumb. Now there is no excuse to ever, ever miss any notes here! No motion is needed at all. Do the same thing for the F-octave pick-up into sixty-one, the A-octave pickup into sixty-two, and the Ab and G octaves in the treble clef within sixty-two. You’ll have to remember to make this passage look hard after reducing so much motion!
History and Trivia......Clarinet vs Viola!!!
One may often hear in viola studios, or even within the first paragraph of this wikipedia article (as of June 2014, someone let me know if this changes) that “Brahms…produced an oft-performed transcription of these works for viola.” Actually, convincing arguments have been made about the lack of solid evidence for either a viola transcription by the composer himself or even Brahms’ approval of one. [1. Page 165 of The Early Violin and Viola] (This in no way reflects upon the Piano Handyman’s personal preferences)!
Both sonatas were written in 1894, the first year that Coca Cola was sold in bottles. They were premiered by their dedicatee, Richard Mühlfeld. Brahms liked Richard’s playing quite a bit, calling him the best wind player that he knew. [2. Page 142 of this Brahms book] He had to be good to survive this premiere. It was in November, so it wasn’t all that warm outside, plus Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim were in the audience. The only thing that would make one’s nerves worse was if the composer himself was sitting at the piano…what’s that?….he was!
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