Klarinet Archive - Posting 000735.txt from 1997/09

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Brahms 2nd Sonata question
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 03:01:55 -0400

on 9/8/97 11:34 PM, Frank Garcia wrote:

>I have a question regarding the 2nd movement of the Brahms 2nd Sonata.
>
>The first third of the movement is marked Allegro appassionato.

Well, not exactly. The Weiner Urtext edition says "Appassionato, ma non
troppo Allegro", and I think there's a difference. Any Brahms experts who
can enlighten us about this difference would certainly be appreciated by
me. Alas, my edition of the Eb sonata appears to have grown legs!

>The middle
>section is marked Sostenuto. Then back to Tempo I. In rehearsing this
>movement with my pianist, she had posed a question that I could not answer.
>She wished to know if there is as relationship between the Allegro tempo
>and the Sostenuto tempo.
>
>Her interpretation of the Sostenuto section is a little faster than usually
>performed, but I like the way she plays it. The problem is, she wishes to
>relate the two different tempos somehow. I have always thought (prehaps
>nievely) that the Sostenuto was completely new music and should be treated
>as such. But, it is the piano alone that establishes the tempo in the
>Sostenuto section. Any thoughts on this subject would be very much
>appreciated by both of us.

I've never discovered any such relationship. But examine the harmonic
scheme and the written key signatures, and see if you can discover an
interesting relationship. (Theory assignment for the day!)

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/