MOBILE RED HEDGEHOG - Flipbook - Page 17
It is, indeed, a work of autumnal beauty,
introspection and quiet melancholy. While Brahms
created a feeling of rhapsodic freedom, he also
ensured a unity of emotion, tonality and thematic
content, and the clarinet does not adopt a solo
role, more that of an equal.
The first movement Allegro opens with a
sensuously beautiful theme which contains the
seeds upon which the whole work is built,
including the heart-stoppingly beautiful second
idea.
The Adagio begins with a tender, dream-like
melody which is Brahmsian romanticism at its
zenith. A rhapsodic middle section, with echoes
of his beloved gypsy music, precedes a return to
the opening mood.
Again the Andantino opens with a broad melody, a
faster, delicate Presto taking over to continue the
movement with many references to the germinal
theme.
Reflecting the content previously encountered, a
theme with five variations forms the final
movement. The variations continue the underlying
tranquillity of mood, except that in the second the
gypsy character of the Adagio once more comes
to the fore. Hints of each of the movements are to
be found in the closing passages, in particular, a
chilly dénouement as the principal theme of the
opening Allegro combines with that of the
variations.
Programme note by John Dalton, April 2010
