Weber: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 And 2

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Carl Maria van Weber (1786 - 1826) Clarinet Concerto No.1 in F Minor, Op. 73 (J. 109) Clarinet Concerto No.2 in E Flat Major,Op. 74 (J.114) Clarinet Concertino in E Flat Major, Op.26 (J.118) It was natural that there should be anelement of the operatic in the music of Weber. The composer of the first greatRomantic German opera, Der Freischu??tz, spent much of his childhood withthe peripatetic theatre company directed by his father, Franz Anton Weber,uncle of Mozart's wife Constanze and, like his brother, Constanze's Father, atone time a member of the famous Mannheim orchestra. At the time of Weber'sbirth his father was still in the service of the Bishop of Lubeck and duringthe course of an extended visit to Vienna had taken a second wife, an actressand singer, who became an important member of the family theatre companyestablished in 1788.Weber's musical gifts were fostered byhis father, who saw in his youngest son the possibility of a second Mozart.Travel brought the chance of varied if inconsistent study, in Salzburg withMichael Haydn and elsewhere with musicians of lesser ability. His second operawas performed in Freiberg in 1800, followed by a third in Augsburg in 1803.Lessons with the Abbe Vogler led to a position as Kapellmeister in Breslau in1804, brought to a premature end through the hostility of musicians longestablished in the city and through the accidental drinking of engraving acid,left by his father in a wine-bottle.A brief and idyllic period in the serviceof Duke Eugen of W??rttemberg-?ûls at Karlsruhe was followed by three years assecretary to Duke Ludwig of Wurttemberg, a younger brother of the reigningDuke. The financial dealings of his father, who had joined him there, led toimprisonment and expulsion, and a return to a career as an active musician, atfirst mainly as a pianist, appearing in the principal cities of Germany. Ashort stay in Berlin proved fruitful, before his appointment to the opera inPrague in 1813. In 1817 he was invited to Dresden, where it was hoped he wouldestablish German opera, although the first performance of Der Freisch??tzwas given in Berlin in 1821. While the rival Italian opera in Dresden continuedto cause Weber trouble, he was invited to write an opera for Vienna. Euryanthe,described as a grand heroic-Romantic opera, with a libretto by theblue-stocking authoress of Schubert's Rosamunde, had a mixed reception. In spite of deteriorating health, theresult of tuberculosis, Weber accepted a commission from Covent Garden for anEnglish opera, Oberon, which was first performed there in April 1826under the direction of the composer. A pioneer in the use of the conductor'sbaton, his first appearance with this potential weapon caused initial alarmamong English musicians at his possibly aggressive intentions. The Englishweather could only fur1her damage his health and he died during the night of4th June on the eve of his intended departure for Germany.Weber's achievement was both considerableand influential. In