Album Notes

Beloved romantic chamber music from a world renowned chamber ensemble. Thomas Hill, clarinet Arturo Delmoni, Lynn Chang, violin Marcus Thompson, viola Ronald Thomas, cello Mihae Lee, piano Brahms hinted that no further works were to be expected from his pen after his String Quintet in G, Op.111. However, after hearing a performance by an extraordinary clarinetist, Richard Műhlfeld, he was moved to compose for him. Brahms then wrote four works featuring the clarinet, including the Trio in A minor and the Quintet in B minor. The Trio in A was written during the summer of 1891, but Brahms was not ready to release it to the world before hearing the reaction of his friend Eusebius Mandyczewski, who marveled at the blending of the clarinet and cello. The heavy emphasis on the minor mode in the first movement underlines the autumnal quality of the score. The second movement is a fantasy of richly elaborated lines, whether in delicate dialogue or impassioned octaves. From the very first notes its bright D major lends a welcome warmth. The third movement has, in place of a scherzo, a graceful and delicate A-major waltz akin to some of the more pensive sections of the Liebeslieder sets. The finale returns to the minor mode, ending the Trio with energy and drive in a typically Brahmsian alternation of 2/4 and 6/8 meters. The Clarinet Quintet in B minor is singularly elegiac in character, marked from the very opening with sustained, lyrical downward-tending melodies. The slow movement begins with another descending melody in the clarinet, echoed off the beat by the first violin over a subdued but uneasy accompaniment; clarinet and violin exchange parts as the phrase repeats and extends itself. The middle section of the movement is a wonderful evocation of gypsy music, which had fascinated Brahms from the earliest phase of his career. Here the swirling turns on the clarinet elaborate the strings as they hint at the main theme. The last two movements both employ thematic transfiguration. The Andantino’s rocking melody becomes a lively Presto non assai. In the finale, the main theme appears in four different guises in a process of continuous development. At the very end of the work, Brahms brings back the opening of the first movement, once again emphasizing the autumnal mood of the entire piece. / Edited from CD liner notes by Steven Ledbetter About Boston Chamber Music Society: Founded in 1982 by a group of enthusiastic music colleagues, Boston Chamber Music Society, BCMS, is an ensemble of superb musicians who come together in different combinations to prepare and perform chamber music. Over the last twenty-five plus seasons, BCMS has built a reputation for impassioned performances, ripened over time by the long personal and professional histories of its member musicians. While they are all celebrated soloists, their primary passion remains the rich and extensive chamber music repertoire. BCMS invites guest musicians, chosen for their particular affinity for, and mastery of, the works they will play, to join the members, expanding the artistic possibilities to virtually all works in the chamber music repertoire. BCMS presents the most extensive and longest-running concert series in Boston's musically fertile region and is distinguished for its enduring performance standards. The ensemble playing demonstrates the perfect combination of control and freedom that comes from years of collaboration: individual musical personalities find expression without dominating. The effect is one of the miracles of music—sheer aesthetic beauty.