Presented by UKARIA

BRAHMS: THE COMPLETE WORKS FOR CLARINET

By the age of fifty-seven, Brahms was all but done with composition. Fortunately, he shared a special bond with Richard Mühlfeld (his ‘dear nightingale’), who managed to coax the composer out of his autumnal repose for one last swansong. These post-retirement years were remarkably fruitful: the Clarinet Trio and Quintet were composed in a single summer in 1891, and two additional sonatas for clarinet and piano followed in 1894. Mühlfeld had revealed the clarinet’s true range of character, awakening new musical possibilities.

Melbourne-based clarinettist David Griffiths has been playing these twilight masterpieces for years. He joins pianist Timothy Young, cellist Svetlana Bogosavljevic and the Australian String Quartet to perform the complete cycle of works for clarinet, described by Jan Swafford as ‘the only true love songs to an instrument Brahms ever wrote’.

PROGRAM: PART TWO
Brahms Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in E flat, op 120 no 2
David Griffiths (clarinet) Timothy Young (piano)
Brahms Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B minor, op 115
David Griffiths (clarinet), Australian String Quartet

The Australian String Quartet performs this concert with guest violist Tahlia Petrosian