Carl Maria von Weber

Concertino Op. 26

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) was a pupil of Michael Haydn. Before he was fifteen years old he had already composed an opera, a mass and piano music. He was subsequently director of the Prague Opera House and Music Master at the Dresden Court. The overtures to his operas DER FREISCHÜTZ and OBERON are still often performed by wind bands, though it is often lesser known that von Weber also wrote pieces for 'Harmoniemusik', such as a CONCERTINO IN C for oboe and small wind band.Von Weber wrote most of his clarinet works for the famous German clarinettist Heinrich Bärmann (1784-1874). This was the case for his CLARINET CONCERTO No1 in F and his CLARINET CONCERTO No2 in Eb and for the CONCERTINO, all composed in 1811. Von Weber was very impressed by Bärmann's virtuosity and the expressiveness of the clarinet. The CONCERTINO is one of the very great works of the classical clarinet repertoire. A slow introduction is followed by a cheerful theme repeated with several contrasting variations. This pre-eminently romantic clarinet piece was scored for symphonic band by the French composer and arranger Charles Lhomme (Hargicourt 1889).