Three Quintets by and for Heinrich Joseph Baermann

• Main Author: Miller, Alisha Leighanne
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2009
• Subjects: Music
• ISBN: 9781109384369; 110938436X

Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer each dedicated a clarinet quintet to Heinrich Joseph Baermann in 1813; a few years later Baermann wrote three quintets for himself. Carl Maria von Weber's Quintet for clarinet, 2 violins, viola and cello in B-flat Major, op. 34, Giacomo Meyerbeer's Sonate for clarinet with accompaniment of 2 violins, viola and cello, and Heinrich Joseph Baermann's Quintet for clarinet, 2 violins, viola and cello with 2 bassoons, 2 horns and contrabass ad libitum in E-flat Major, op. 19, like all of the clarinet quintets from the second decade of the nineteenth century, are written for B-flat clarinet. Although officially chamber works, they each feature the clarinet as a solo instrument supported by an accompanimental texture. The string instruments introduce and development important motives, but with few exceptions the thematic material is presented by the clarinet. As one would expect, the clarinet lines contain passages of technical display and cantabile melodies; they also present contrasting elements such as wide leaps adjacent to minor second intervals and juxtaposition of duple and triple rhythms. Moreover, textural contrast is achieved through the alternation of clarinet and the full string quartet, as well as in dialogue between clarinet and a single string instrument. Examination of these quintets provides insights into Baermann's abilities as a clarinetist and into compositional techniques used by composers of works for the clarinet in the early nineteenth century.