Essential Weber
Unless you happen to play the clarinet, you may not encounter the music of Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) too often, which is a huge pity because he was a driving force in the Romantic movement, shaping the future and influencing generations of composers like Wagner and Mahler.
Read more…Perhaps the work which best symbolises Weber's influence was 'Der Freischütz', a fantastical, ghoulish opera about a huntsman who makes a devilish pact to forge seven "magic bullets" which will enable him to win a shooting contest and, with it, the hand of his beloved Agathe in marriage. The brilliant overture bristles with tension, while the Wolf's Glen Scene – which concludes this playlist – is a terrifying depiction of witchcraft in which Samiel, the Black Huntsman, is summoned by the evil Kaspar amid baying hounds and the thundering hooves of horses. You can hear how this scene influenced the Witches' Sabbath in the 'Symphonie fantastique' by Berlioz, a Weber fan who also orchestrated his whirling piano work 'Invitation to the Dance' (both versions included here). Weber was great friends with the clarinettist Heinrich Baermann and composed some of the finest works in the clarinet repertoire for him. The slow movements in his two concertos are like operatic arias, while the outer movements allow players to demonstrate dazzling techniques. This playlist includes recordings by today's finest clarinet virtuosos.