Brahms heard clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld (1856–1907) for the first time on 17 March 1891, performing Carl Maria von Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor (op. 73) with the Meiningen court orchestra under the direction of Fritz Steinbach.Footnote ¹ Mühlfeld was the principal clarinettist of the Meiningen court orchestra, and was regarded as one of the finest German clarinettists of his time. His playing inspired Brahms to write again in the middle of a compositional break. Brahms dedicated to Mühlfeld his Clarinet Trio op. 114, Clarinet Quintet op. 115, and Sonatas in F minor and E-flat major, op. 120. The sonatas were composed in 1894 and published by Simrock in 1895.

Although there are some 50 editions of the sonatas currently available in print, Bärenreiter’s new Urtext edition by Clive Brown and Neal Peres Da Costa can be regarded as one of the most authoritative.Footnote ² It is based on a number of archival documents including the autograph score from the Robert Owen Lehmann Collection in New York, the Stichvorlage score (by copyist Wilhelm Kupfer) from the Brahms Archive at the Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky (D-Hs), the first edition by Simrock, and Brahms’s personal copies of the first edition held at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna (A-Wgm).Footnote ³ Brown and Da Costa offer extensive historical context for the genesis and reception of the two sonatas by including a scholarly-critical report and performance practice commentary, based on ‘memoirs by pupils and chamber music partners, treatises and essays, early instructive editions and historical recordings’.Footnote ⁴

For performers this edition offers valuable stylistic considerations of the German Romantic Era. The performance practice commentary features practical discussions of topics such as rhythm, tempo, dynamic, accentuation and articulation. For instance, the editors’ suggestion to treat sf as ‘an emphatic accent’ and rf as ‘a strong hairpin on a single note’ can offer fresh perspective on approaches to articulation, note releases and tonal colours in the Allegro grazioso of Sonata No. 1, op. 120.Footnote ⁵ This may invite clarinettists to experiment with executing sharper attacks on sf while emulating a ‘bell tone’ affect with a quick decay on rf. Furthermore, considering Richard Mühlfeld’s former training as a violinist, the possibility that Mühlfeld may have incorporated vibrato can have a profound impact on the interpretation of the Clarinet Sonatas op. 120 for clarinettists.Footnote ⁶ The in-depth Critical Report also clarifies the debate on the intention of the articulation surrounding the notorious three-note figure found in bars 5, 6, 17, 18, 53, 54, 65 and 66 in the Andante un poco Adagio movement of the Sonata in F minor, op. 120. The editors explain that Brahms’s intentions regarding the articulation of the three-note figure (whether or not it contains slurred or separately articulated notes) is uncertain due to inconsistencies found among several sources.Footnote ⁷ With thorough research, the editors’ efforts to be consistent with Brahms’s articulation and dynamic markings are also evident in clearly indicated editorial markings found throughout the score. An example of this can be found in the Allegro appassionato movement of the Clarinet Sonata in F minor, bar 149. The insertion of diminuendos in the clarinet part indicates the continuation of the motive, which begins in bar 146. The correction is referenced in the critical report as the version found in the separate Stichvorlage viola part.Footnote ⁸

In addition to the detailed notes on editorial markings, and bar-by-bar commentary on each movement of the sonatas, the editors’ discussions of tempos for each of the movements is particularly insightful, as they closely examine the suggested metronome markings from the edition by Schubert and Friedberg of the late 1920s, along with other works by Brahms that share similar tempo marking terminologies. Concert reviews from performances of op. 120 at the turn of the ninteenth century are also brought into the discussion. They show that a hundred years ago, tempo was imagined rather differently in Brahms’s clarinet sonata, following early-1900s performance conventions.Footnote ⁹ The layout of the clarinet part of Bärenreiter’s Urtext edition also serves a practical purpose. Although the piano cues are omitted from the clarinet part, the smaller font (when compared to earlier editions) enables clarinettists to turn pages at a more relaxed musical pace.

Bärenreiter’s new Urtext critical edition of Brahms’s Sonatas in F minor and E-flat major for Clarinet and Piano (op. 120) includes a clarinet part and a piano score. Separate Bärenreiter Urtext editions are also available of these sonatas in Brahms's arrangements for viola and piano and for violin and piano. This new Urtext edition of Brahms's Sonatas is a welcome addition to the clarinet repertoire.