Ludwig van Beethoven: Three Duets for Clarinet and Bassoon, WoO27 (1790-1792)

Duet #1 in C Major:
00:00 - I. Allegro comodo
03:27 - II. Larghetto sostenuto
05:13 - III. Rondo: Allegretto

Duet #2 in F Major:
08:34 - I. Allegro affetuoso
11:55 - II. Aria: Larghetto
13:28 - III. Rondo: Allegretto moderato

Duet #3 in Bb Major:
16:11 - I. Allegro sostenuto
20:22 - II. Aria con Variazioni: Andantino con moto
_____
Bassoon: Klaus Thunemann
Clarinet: Eduard Brunner
Year of Recording: 1986
_____
"There has been some doubt about the authenticity of the three Duos for clarinet and bassoon, conjecturally dated by some to Beethoven’s final years in Bonn, 1790–1792. The pieces appeared in Paris in the second decade of the nineteenth century and, whatever their origin, make a pleasing and useful addition to repertoire, either in their original form or in various arrangements, particularly that for violin and cello. Duo No. 1 in C major opens with a sonata-form movement in which melodies are equitably shared between the two instruments. The second movement is in a melancholy C minor, followed, without a break, by a final Rondo, which includes a minor key episode before the final appearance of the cheerful principal theme. Duo No. 2 in F major entrusts the first theme to the bassoon, followed by the clarinet. The D minor Aria that provides the slow movement, gives the melody to the clarinet, and the work ends with a Rondo. Duo No. 3 in B flat major follows its sonata-form first movement with a second that is a series of variations, the first with a running bassoon accompaniment and a second in which the notes of the bassoon accompany rapid triplet semiquaver figuration for the clarinet. The third variation introduces syncopation and the fourth has the melody allocated to each instrument in turn, accompanied by rapid demismeiquavers. The movement ends with a final Allegro assai." (Keith Anderson)
_____
© COPYRIGHT Disclaimer, Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976. Allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.