The Grand Duo Concertant, Opus 48, J204, is a three-movement work for

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

composed by

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...

from 1815 to 1816. It is a virtuosic piece for both instruments. Weber most likely composed the work for himself (on piano) and his friend

Heinrich Baermann Heinrich Joseph Baermann (also spelled Bärmann; 14 February 1784 – 11 June 1847) was a German clarinet virtuoso of the Romantic era who is generally considered as being not only an outstanding performer of his time, but highly influential in ...

, a leading clarinettist of the era, although it has also been suggested that the intended clarinettist was

Johann Simon Hermstedt Johann Simon Hermstedt (29 December 1778 – 10 August 1846) was one of the most famous clarinettists of the 19th century. He is a German who served as court clarinettist to Duke Günther I of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, and taught the Duke to play ...

. The three movements are as follows: #Allegro con fuoco #Andante con moto #Rondo: allegro The second and third movements were completed before the first and were probably performed in 1815 for King

Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria Maximilian I Joseph (german: Maximilian I. Joseph; 27 May 1756 – 13 October 1825) was Duke of Zweibrücken from 1795 to 1799, prince-elector of Bavaria (as Maximilian IV Joseph) from 1799 to 1806, then King of Bavaria (as Maximilian I Joseph) ...

at the

Nymphenburg Palace The Nymphenburg Palace (german: Schloss Nymphenburg, Palace of the Nymphs) is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park it consti ...

. During its composition, Weber designated the work as a

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

, but abandoned that title upon its completion. This decision reflected the work's character as more of a showcase for two virtuosos than a conventionally structured and integrated work. The first movement is in

sonata form Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle ...

, the second movement is an Andante in

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Cha ...

, and the finale is a lilting

rondo The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

E-flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically ...

. The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

music critic

John Warrack John Hamilton Warrack (born 1928, in London) is an English music critic, writer on music, and oboist. Warrack is the son of Scottish conductor and composer Guy Warrack. He was educated at Winchester College (1941-6) and then at the Royal College ...

suggests the work could be referred to as a "double concerto without orchestra", reflecting the highly virtuosic roles for both performers.

Media

References

Recordings

Etcetera Records, Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble, C.M. von Weber (Grand Quintetto op.34, Grand Duo Concertant op.48, Variations on a theme of Silvana op.33) (2017)

External links

* {{Authority control Compositions by Carl Maria von Weber 1816 compositions Compositions in E-flat major