Clarinet Concerto No. 2 (Weber)

Clarinet Concerto No. 2 (Weber)

Carl Maria von Weber wrote his Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 74, in 1811. It is composed of three movements:

  1. Allegro
  2. Andante con moto
  3. Alla Polacca

A typical performance lasts 23 minutes. The 1st movement typically lasts for approximately 8:30 minutes, the 2nd movement for approximately 7 minutes and the 3rd movement for between 6:30 and 7 minutes depending on the tempo.

Contents

Instrumentation

The concerto is scored for a solo clarinet and an orchestra consisting of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings.

First Movement

The 1st Movement, in Eb major, begins with a very grand statement by the orchestra. The strings give a rather virtuosic rendition of fragments of the Clarinet melodic material. The Clarinet soloist enters with a high F (E flat concert pitch) followed by a 3 octave jump. This 3 octave jump along with other large leaps are stylistic of this movement. The majority of the first half of the movement sits very comfortably in Eb major before modulating to Db major where much of the previous clarinet melodic material is repeated. The movement finishes with a rather virtuosic clarinet part extending to the very limits of clarinet range (the clarinet goes as high as concert Ab).

Second Movement

The 2nd movement, by stark contrast in G minor, is reflective of Weber's many operas. With its operatic phrasing, this movement really exhibits the rich tone of the clarinet. The clarinet melody has very expressive dynamics, often going from fortissmo to piano in the space of one bar. After the initial statement of the melody, the work moves into an orchestral section in A major which acts as a sort of extended dominant to D minor when the clarinet enters again. It is in the C minor section when we begin to see short note values which adds to a very operatic style. Once again the orchestra goes into a section in G major, which exactly imitates the previous section in G major. Suddenly the clarinet enters in F major with a very virtuosic scale followed by numerous runs. In this F major section there is some very large leaps, one being 3 octaves and a tone at bar 56. The work shifts back to G minor with a recitative, once again in the operatic style. This is taken very freely with the clarinet and orchestra taking turns in playing. After the recitative, the original melody in A minor is repeated and followed by a rather short cadenza before the work finishes with a very long concert G from the clarinet.

Third Movement

Considered staple clarinet repertoire, the 3rd movement in Eb major is an exhibition of technique and style on the part of the soloist. The Polacca is usually taken at a somewhat faster speed than what pollacas are normally taken at however, some players choose to take it slower. Once again, Weber regularly used rather large leaps to embellish the clarinet melody which is usually made up of semiquavers (16th notes). The melody is often dotted and syncopated to give a somewhat cheeky feel to the work. There is a 2 bar fragment of the melody (bb 19-20) which is regarded as one of the hardest fragments for clarinet repertoire because of the clarinet playing without orchestra with very fast leaps, all slurred. The work sits very comfortably in Eb major until Weber uses a series of diminished chords to send the work into D major. However, this is short lived as the work comes back to F major which the original melody being stated again with elements of F# major entering. The work finishes with one of the most virtuosic passages in the clarinet repertoire. Made up of largely arpeggios and scalic runs in sextuplet semiquavers, it is a very fitting end to one of Weber's greatest works

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