The Duet-Concertino for clarinet and bassoon, 293, with string orchestra and harp in

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor. The F major scale is: : F major is the ...

, was written by Richard Strauss in 1946/47 and premiered in 1948. It is the last purely instrumental work he wrote.

Composition history

The first mention of the Duet-Concertino in Strauss's notebook is 15 December 1946 when he was in

Baden, Switzerland Baden (German for "baths"), sometimes unofficially, to distinguish it from other Badens, called Baden bei Zürich ("Baden near Zürich") or Baden im Aargau ("Baden in the Aargau"), is a town and a municipality in Switzerland. It is the main tow ...

. He mentioned working on it again in September 1947 when at

Pontresina Pontresina ( rm, Puntraschigna) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. History and name Pontresina was first mentioned in medieval Latin documents as ''ad Pontem Sarisinam'' in 1137 and ''de Ponte Sar ...

, finishing the score on 16 December 1947 when he was in

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

. The impetus for completing it was a commission in the summer of 1947 from Otmar Nussio for his orchestra, the

Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana (OSI; literal translation, Orchestra of Italian Switzerland) is a Swiss orchestra based in Lugano. The orchestra's primary concert venue is the ''Auditorio RSI''. The OSI also gives a concert series at the ...

. The concerto was written with an old friend in mind: Professor , who had been the principal bassoonist with the

Vienna Philharmonic The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...

but had since emigrated to New York. The score published by Boosey & Hawkes in 1949 has the dedication to Burghauser. Strauss had written to him in 1946:

I am very busy with an idea for a double concerto for clarinet and bassoon thinking especially of your beautiful tone – nevertheless, apart from a few sketched out themes it still remains no more than an intention. Perhaps it would interest you.

The score may have an underlying program for the first movement. When the concerto was completed, Strauss wrote again to Burghauser joking that

A dancing princess is alarmed by the grotesque cavorting of a bear in imitation of her. At last she is won over to the creature and dances with it, upon which it turns into a prince. So in the end, you too will turn into a prince and live happily ever after...

However, Juergen May argues that the program is more plausibly based on

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

: Odysseus lands on the island of

Scheria Scheria or Scherie (; grc, Σχερία or ), also known as Phaeacia () or Faiakia was a region in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's ''Odyssey'' as the home of the Phaeacians and the last destination of Odysseus in his 10-year journey ...

and subsequently meets the princess Nausicaa. The work is written in three

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

(Allegro moderato – Andante – Rondo), although the second movement acts as little more than a brief transition between the outer movements. The dance-like third movement is very much in the spirit of his oboe concerto. David Hurwitz writes that "Works such as this are unique and have no true antecedents in the orchestral literature ... That Strauss wrote it at all is something miraculous." May relates the piece to a comment Strauss had made in his 1904 update on Berlioz' '' Treatise on Instrumentation'', where he comments on a bassoon passage: "One can't help hearing the voice of an old man humming the melodies dearest to him when he was a youth". A performance takes about 18 minutes.

Performance history

On 4 April 1948, the world premiere was broadcast on Radio Lugano, with the

conducted by , with Armando Basile on clarinet and Bruno Bergamaschi on bassoon. Strauss was not present, but it is mentioned in his notebook indicating that he might have listened to the broadcast. The British premiere was given at Manchester by the

Halle Orchestra Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hal ...

on 4 May 1949 with

John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...

conducting and the clarinet played by Pat Ryan and bassoon by Charles Cracknell. The work was also performed later that year on 29 July at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

with

Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

conducting the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

with

Frederick Thurston Frederick John Thurston (21 September 1901 – 12 December 1953) was an English clarinettist. Career From the age of 7 he was taught by his father and he won an open scholarship to the Royal College of Music, becoming a pupil of Charles Drap ...

on the clarinet and

Archie Camden Archie Camden (9 March 1888 – 16 February 1979) was a British bassoonist; he was a pedagogue and soloist of international acclaim. His career began in 1906 when he joined the Hallé Orchestra, where he became principal bassoonist in 1914. I ...

on bassoon. The Australian premiere was broadcast in 1959 by the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

with the

West Australian Symphony Orchestra The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Perth, Western Australia. Its principal concert venue is the Perth Concert Hall. WASO also gives concerts at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. , W ...

with Jack Harrison on clarinet and Jill Mowson (nee Harrison) on bassoon.

Instrumentation

The scoring of the concerto is distinctive. In addition to the standard strings and harp, Strauss

divides In mathematics, a divisor of an integer n, also called a factor of n, is an integer m that may be multiplied by some integer to produce n. In this case, one also says that n is a multiple of m. An integer n is divisible or evenly divisible by ...

the string sections into "Soli" (the lead player for each of the five sections) and "tutti" (the body of players) in the manner of the baroque

concerto grosso The concerto grosso (; Italian language, Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the ''#Concertino, concertino'') and full orc ...

. The opening bars feature the five solo players augmented by a second

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, reminiscent of the

sextet A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...

which opens his opera '' Capriccio''.

Recordings

Recordings include:

References

Sources

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External links

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"Duet-Concertino"
Boosey & Hawkes {{Authority control Concertos by Richard Strauss Concertos for multiple instruments Bassoon concertos Clarinet concertos 1947 compositions Compositions in F major Music dedicated to family or friends