Walter Boeykens (°1938)

Walter Boeykens, born in 1938 in Bornem, studied clarinet at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels.His career skyrocketed after he left the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Belgian Radio and Television in 1984. Since then, he has worked with the most renowned conductors and ensembles and has been playing an enormously varied repertoire which, since the start of his career, has always included contemporary works as well as masterpieces from the Classical and Romantic periods. In 1965 Boeykens had already become a prize winner in the Gaudeamus Internationale wedstrijd voor hedendaagse muziek (International Competition for Contemporary Music Performers) in Utrecht and was entrusted with the creation of Pierre Boulez’ Domaines for Clarinet and Orchestra in 1968. He was also invited to some of the most prestigious music festivals in Berlin, Paris, Warsaw, Madrid, Salzburg, the Walloon Provinces, and of course, the Festival of Flanders. As a soloist, he performed with various orchestras in Israel, the USA, Venezuela, Mexico, Japan, and Korea…

In addition to his career as a clarinettist, Boeykens is also a well-known pedagogue and conductor. As a pedagogue, Boeykens was affiliated with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp, where he founded the Walter Boeykens Clarinet Choir, and taught at the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music, the Académie Internationale d’Eté in Nice, the Cité de la Musique in Paris and the Scuola di Alto Perfezionamente Musicale in Turin. As a conductor, he worked with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Brabants Orkest in the Netherlands and the Orchestra Filharmonica di Torino.

Walter Boeykens was awarded the following prizes: the fifth Prudens Van Duyse Award in 1988 and the Special Culture Award of the municipality of Bornem in 1995. In 1996, he also received the Golden Medal of the Flemish Government and to crown his entire musical career he was knighted by the Belgian King Albert II in 1997, and in November 2007 the title of “Maestro Honoris Causa” at the Antwerpse Hogeschool was bestowed upon him by the Foundation of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp.

Musical conversations

If we put our cards straight on the table, we can not deny that the nineteenth century harboured an undeniable predilection for music for keyboard and string instruments. To put it even stronger: the Romantic era worshipped the piano and the violin on bended knee. This Romantic penchant for strings, both bowed and struck, brought forth a catalogue of concert music as thick as a fist. This beautiful, innovative and masterfully written music has, in the meantime, conquered an indisputable position in the canon of Romantic music. Be assured that this passion flared up to the greatest heights. However, just as in romantic love, it also left quite a few blind spots. This searing interest in the piano and the violin relegated other instruments to an existence on the sidelines. This is food for thought indeed. The history of Western art music genres would have had a very different countenance if the violin, cello and piano had not been given such an important position or if the Romantics had tapped into the dramatic, divergent potential of wind instruments with equal enthusiasm.

Various arguments can be offered to explain why this had not happened. The fact that relatively less first-class music was composed for wind instruments in the string-intoxicated Romantic era can be attributed to a network of genre-specific, historic, aesthetic and socio-cultural values. This ‘regression’ in compositional interest could therefore not be predicted unequivocally. But it was certainly a small sidestep: the relative detachment with which the nineteenth century greeted music for wind instruments stood in shrill contrast with the vast output of eighteenth-century classical music written for these instruments. Even today, the classical and early classical repertoire’s vast and many-layered spectrum of sound still speaks to the imagination. Wind players took up a prominent position at practically all levels of musical life.  The ‘wind section’ – as an ensemble of wind players, comprised of two oboes, two clarinets, two French horns and two bassoons, sometimes with the addition of a double bassoon or a double bass,   was commonly referred to  - was in all probability the most popular medium for wind players. The popularity of this ensemble brought forth countless original works by masters such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, but also various arrangements of operas and other compositions for wind ensemble. The most prolific composers of this music were the Bohemians and the Moravians. Druzecky, Myslivecek, Masek, Vranicky, Rosetti or Jirovec: nowadays, these names will ring only a few bells - but in the past, they rang quite a few cash registers.

The clarinet, invented in the early eighteenth century by instrument builder Johann Christoph Denner, took up a prominent position within this repertoire. In the course of time, the instrument had attained a permanent position in ensemble and wind instrument music and appeared more and more frequently as a member of the orchestra as well. It was especially Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who gave voice to his affection for this instrument in various compositions, including a delightful clarinet concerto and an impressive clarinet quintet. The clarinet began also to be heard outside of the region we have just marked out: at the end of the eighteenth century a number of French composers also appealed to its increasingly fluid sound.

It was, however, not until the nineteenth century that the instrument itself attained technical perfection. This development can be attributed entirely to the rise of the first clarinet virtuosi, who required increasingly more ingenious systems to serve their increasingly greater skill and dexterity. This in turn gave rise to an exceedingly interesting interaction between virtuoso players, instrument builders and composers, in which the first group spurred the second to set about developing inventive mechanisms and in which the last group created a corresponding musical repertoire. When addressing the nineteenth-century clarinet repertoire, it is not possible to ignore the fanaticism with which some instrumentalists propelled their instrument forwards into the history of Western art music.

One of these was Heinrich Baermann (1784-1847), a clarinettist from Munich. This outstanding musician was known from London to St. Petersburg as the ‘Rubini of the clarinet’ (analogous to the expressive singing of the laurelled tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini). In effect, countless tales have been published about the sound of Baermann’s fluid, homogenous and melodious clarinet playing. This sound could only be achieved thanks to Baermann’s uninterrupted work on the technical improvement of this instrument. However, the chief reason for his being remembered is his cooperation with the composer Carl Maria von Weber, who wrote his two clarinet concertos for Baermann in 1811.

Other composers were equally inspired by Baermann’s talent. The origin of the clarinet compositions of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (03.02.1809 - 04.11.1847) can also be traced back to this musician. The works written for Baermann by von Weber inspired the young Mendelssohn to compose a clarinet sonata in E flat. When Mendelssohn first met the clarinettist in the company of his talented son Carl in December 1827, he was inspired to write a more ambitious work for clarinet, although it was not until 1832 that Mendelssohn found the time to put this idea to paper. Keeping in mind the amicable encounter with Baermann senior and junior, Mendelssohn decided to write two ‘Konzertstücke’ for two clarinets. These short three-part double concertos were only published, under the opus numbers 113 and 114, after Mendelssohn’s death.

Mendelssohn ensured that the music he wrote would do justice to the virtuoso qualities of both musicians. It comes as no surprise that he took von Weber’s clarinet concertos as a point of departure for his composition. Von Weber, who liked to explore organic musical forms in his concertos, had always served as a great source of inspiration for Mendelssohn. It is no coincidence that these ‘Konzertstücke’ bear a light-hearted reference to the musical gestures that are so typical for the music of von Weber. However, one could never say that Mendelssohn reverted to mere copying. To the contrary; Opus 113 even serves to parody von Weberian dramatics. This composition carries the exaggerated subtitle of: “The battle for Prague: a grand duet for yeast dumpling and cream puff, clarinet and basset-horn.” According to an anecdote, this whimsical title refers to the cooking skills of the Baermanns. Whichever way you look at it, the title harbours two extremely elastic compositions, in which Mendelssohn finds room enough to explore the entire sound spectrum of the clarinet. These compositions are filled to the brim with leaps of large intervals, bravura passages, romantic dialogues and tumultuous cadences. As is already indicated by the title, these compositions were originally written for the clarinet and the deeper sounding basset-horn, which in the time of Mendelssohn had already become a kind of anachronism. The second concert piece, Opus 114, takes a theme by Baermann as its point of departure. “You must imagine that in the first part, someone loses all of his money in a game of whist,” writes Mendelssohn later, “and that in the Adagio the clarinet speaks of my longing for a good meal, while the basset horn illustrates the rumbling of my belly.” However, one thing is clear: these are unaffected, good-humoured compositions, aimed primarily at the enjoyment of the listener and of the players.

Although Heinrich was irrefutably the clarinet virtuoso, Mendelssohn spent a good deal more time with his son Carl Baermann (24.10.1810 - 23.05.1885). Furthermore, Carl – as opposed to his father – was not only a musician, but also a composer. In all probability, this had been a practical decision for Carl, who was of course daunted by the unparalleled reputation of his father. As a clarinet teacher, he had a talented and well-attended class of students at Munich’s Königliche Musikschule. Carl is still famous today because of his pedagogical qualities. His Vollständige Clarinett-Schule, the method developed by him between 1864 and 1875, is still popular today. In the area of instrument building, he also helped to expand the mechanical possibilities of the clarinet: together with clarinet builder Ottensteiner he developed a type of clarinet with 18 valves. Furthermore, he was also renowned during his lifetime for his non-pedagogical compositions. Among the 88 opus numbers published by him, there is also a Duo concertant, which Baermann performed together with his father in Paris. His composition was modelled on – once again – the work of Carl Maria von Weber, who had written a spectacular Grand duo concertant for clarinet and piano in 1815.  The nervous trills accompanying the introduction of the Grand duo alone are enough to call to mind a distinctly von Weberian sense of drama.  What ensues is a melodious duet, which transcends from a nonchalant little melody into a dialogue of increasingly virtuoso proportions, subtly interrupted now and again by suggestive little string passages. Other than Weber’s bravura writing, Carl Baermann’s Duo is more reminiscent of the eighteenth century and refers to the classical phrasing and ornamentation of a musical tradition long past.

It comes as no surprise that composers such as Mendelssohn and Baermann strove to imbue their compositions with an explicit theatrical effect and that both of them turned to an opera composer such as von Weber for inspiration. It was only a small step from the counterpoint between two instruments to an instrumental, wordless version of an opera duet. Neither was it a coincidence that the concert genre appealed to several composers of primarily opera music as well.  We have already mentioned von Weber, but on the other side of the Alps, several opera veterans also ventured into the world of musical conversations. Without a doubt, the most famous of these was Gaetano Donizetti, who in addition to several delightful operas also produced a number of concertos (including one for clarinet). Neither had this interest dwindled in the full nineteenth century. Amilcare Ponchielli (31.08.1834 - 16.01.1886), who was one of the most valued composers of Italy in his time, also produced a series of chamber music works in addition to operas. His divertimento Il convegno (‘the rendez-vous’) from 1857 best illustrates the position occupied by Ponchielli. The composer spanned a bridge between the opera tradition of Verdi and the ‘verismo’ opera with which his pupils Puccini and Mascagni would later express themselves so well. Don’t expect musical heroism as a consequence: the harmonic texture of Ponchielli’s divertimento brings up subtle nuances in colouring combined with vocally inspired melodic lines. The composition is carried by opera-like melismatic passages, dramatically augmented notes and driving passagi. Consequently, Ponchielli’s unpretentious compositions could stand symbol for the new position that wind instruments assumed in the Romantic era: not as a driving force for lofty rhetoric or ingenious art music, but rather as first-rate ‘Gebrauchsmusik’.  This CD will prove to its listeners without a doubt that this does not necessarily point to devaluation, but that there is a great deal of beauty to be plucked within the gamut of high-quality diversionary music.

Tom Janssens

Anne Boeykens

Anne Boeykens received her training as a musician at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Antwerp as a member of the class of her renowned father, Walter Boeykens.
She received a First Prize in Clarinet and after she was awarded a first Prize in Chamber Music as well, she concluded her studies with a Higher Diploma in Clarinet.
She is currently employed as a soloist at the Flemish Radio Orchestra ( Brussels Philharmonic ) and has appeared as a soloist with all of Belgium’s major orchestras and chamber music ensembles.  She is a frequently heard guest at the Festival of Flanders and the Festival of the Walloon Provinces. Programmers of international festivals have also discovered her talent. She performed at the renowned Salzburger Schlosskonzerte (together with members of the Camerata Academica Salzburg and the Mozarteum Orchestra) and was offered a tour of Austria and Germany with the Salzburger Soloists.  In the meantime, her name is featured prominently on posters of various European chamber music festivals.
Together with her father Walter Boeykens, she regularly performs renditions of fascinating and virtuoso concertos for two clarinets by composers such as Hoffmeister, Krommer and Mendelssohn.  
These performances inspired the musical director of the Beethoven Academy to commission Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost for a concerto for two clarinets and orchestra.  Following in the wake of the tremendous success with which this “Concerto Doppio” was received, it was soon decided to record this creative work. The release appeared recently on the international high-quality record label EMI Classics. Anne Boeykens has also recorded several CDs with the Rubio String Quartet, among others.  

Ensemble Walter Boeykens:

Walter Boeykens: clarinet
Anne Boeykens: clarinet

Marjeta Korosec: violin
Eric Baeten: violin
Thérèse-Marie Gilissen: viola
Luis Andrade: cello
Marc Roosendans: double bass

Jean René Désiré Françaix (1912-1997)
    23rd May, Le Mans – 25th September, Paris

Jean Françaix' parents were both active in music and were responsible for his first musical training: his mother was a singer and the founder of a famous choir and his father was a composer, pianist, musicologist and the director of the Le Mans Conservatory. Françaix created his first composition at the age of six, a short suite for piano, Pour Jacqueline, which as published in 1922. On the advice of Maurice Ravel, Françaix went tot the Paris Conservatory. He studied piano with Isidore Philipp and won a Premier Prix in 1930. Françaix was an excellent pianist and regularly performed his own works. He was taught harmony and composition by Nadia Boulanger, who considered Françaix as one of her best students. She taught him his sense of form and live structure, two characteristics that are typical of his entire body of work. Françaix was active as a composer throughout his life and his rich, varied body of work includes more than 200 pieces. Especially towards the end of his life, Françaix received many prizes, including the Ludwig-Spohr-Preis in 1979, the Grand Prix Arthur Honegger and the Grand Prix SACEM de la Musique Symphonique in 1992.

Concerto for clarinet (1967)

Jean Françaix can be easily placed within French tradition. An admirer of Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Les Six and Domenico Scarlatti, he preferred traditional genres such as concertos, symphonies and cantates. Françaix considered atonality as deadlock and proudly called himself a neo-classicist. The 1986 clarinet concerto is therefore mainly tonal, although harmonically speaking it is very free. The Allegro is characterised by a sense of spontaneity, humour and irony and continuously repeats short, simple motifs in various forms. Towards the end of the first part, after the reprise of the main theme, we hear an extensive, improvisational and playful cadenza. The use of a cadenza is entirely in line with the traditional 18th century concerto and is the moment when the soloist is given complete freedom to show his virtuosity. Originally the concerto consisted of three parts (fast - slow - fast), but from the end of the 19th century, the addition of a scherzo or a scherzando also became customary under the influence of Ludwig von Beethoven. The Scherzando in Françaix’ concerto is characterised by striking rhythmical dynamics. Syncopes and accents diffuse the metre at weaker moments and could be considered an influence from Stravinsky, although they do not share his complexity. The short Andantino is a moment of peace amongst the three fast parts, in which the same theme is repeated in various forms by both the clarinet and the other instruments in the orchestra in combination with virtuoso graces in other parts. The Allegrissimo with its spontaneous and playful character links in perfectly with the first part, from which the main them is reprised. Just like the previous parts, the Allegrissimo is notably virtuoso for both the clarinet and the orchestra and again uses short themes and motifs that are varied and repeated.
Françaix’ concerto is generally characterised by a sense of humour and spontaneity and although his composition style very clearly built on the history and style of French music, Françaix succeeded in creating his own aesthetics.

August Verbesselt (1919)
    22nd October, Klein-Willebroek

August Verbesselt studied flute, counterpoint and fugue at the Antwerp Conservatory. Since 1942 he was first flautist at the orchestra of the Flemish Opera for nearly forty years. In 1955 Verbesselt was appointed harmony teacher at the Antwerp Conservatory. He devoted himself to introduce subjects like the analysis and theory of musical forms, which he taught from 1960. Verbesselt is generally praised as a composer and educator. His most famous students include composers Jan Pieter Biesemans, Alain Craens and Wilfried Westerlinck. In 1965 he became the director of the Niel school of music.

Concerto for clarinet (December 1982)

With respect to composition style, August Verbesselt's body of work can be divided into two periods. The first period (1940-1967) is characterised by the use of extended tonality and a tendency to free atonality. During this period, Verbesselt was inspired by compositions by Béla Bartòk, which is clearly noticeable in his concerto for flute, two percussionists and orchestra (1952). Since the sixties, his work gradually moved away from traditionalism, which resulted in the use of bitonality and polytonality. The concerto for clarinet was written during the second period (1967-1995), in which Verbesselt used dodecaphonic series as basic material for his compositions. In the concerto for clarinet (“Concerto per clarinetto”) of 1982, this basic material consists of fourteen different 12-tone series. Still his compositions are always characterised by the will to be understandable to the audience. The need to be understood can be attributed to Verbesselt's affinity with compositional principles and models from the past. He did not consciously look for contrasts, but sought harmonic and melodic recognisability, so that he occasionally had to deviate from theoretical standards. In the concerto for clarinet, this recognisability is created by repeating short themes and motifs, which makes the music accessible for the listener at all times.

The short introduction (Introduzione) by the orchestra immediately sets the tone of the Allegro's character. The combination of harp, celesta, bongos and congas with the long tones produced by the wind section and the tremolos in the strings creates an ominous atmosphere that keeps on returning in the Allegro as well.

The clarinet plays an expressive part in the quiet Adagio. Against a background of the orchestra's tremolos, arpeggios and glissandos, the clarinet plays short and melodic motifs. The combination of instruments also creates a specific atmosphere here. The traditional orchestra sound is enriched with various percussion instruments throughout the composition. In the Adagio it is mainly the combination of xylophone, vibraphone, celesta and harp that creates the mysterious atmosphere.
Like the first section, the clarinet part of the Allegro is very virtuoso. Fast note values, large melodic jumps and glissandos give the part its lively character, but that same mysterious undertone from the previous sections remains present.

Marcel Poot (1901-1988)
    7th May, Vilvoorde – 12th June, Brussels

Marcel Poot, son of Jan Poot (director of the Royal Flemish Theatre), was given his first music lessons from organist Gerard Nauwelaerts. From 1916 to 1919, Poot followed general musical training, piano and harmony at the Brussels Royal Conservatory. In 1922 he won first prize in counterpoint and in 1924 he won first prize in fugue at the Antwerp Royal Conservatory. He was also a private student with Paul Gilson for composition and orchestration. Both composers established and published La Revue Musicale Belge (°1925). Together with 7 of Gilson's other students, Poot formed the group Les Synthétistes. Their aim was to synthesise the achievements of the musical evolutions of the time without losing their own individuality. In 1930 Poot received the Rubens Prize, which gave him the opportunity to be taught by Paul Dukas at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. Poot started his career as a teacher at state secondary school and as a teacher of piano, general musical training and musical history at the academy of Vilvoorde. From 1940 he taught counterpoint and harmony at the Brussels Conservatory and in 1946 he became director there. Poot also held various other important positions. He was a lecturer at the Institut Supérieur des Arts Décoratifs, rector at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music, president of the jury at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition and a member of the jury at various composition competitions.

Clarinet concerto (1977)

Marcel Poot wanted to create a synthesis of old and new techniques in his music. He had a lot of respect and esteem for the Western European music tradition, particularly for Bach's counterpoint and Mozart's spontaneity. Poot's desire to maintain this tradition resulted in a preference for classical composition principles, such as thematic work, motivic development and the selection of sonata form principles (contrasting themes and three movements). In this respect, Poot can be seen as a neo-classicist, although unlike Jean Françaix, he never saw himself as being part of this or any other style.

Poot's first sources of inspiration came from the film and jazz cultures, but several of his works, such as the clarinet concerto of 1977, were influenced by Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky and Richard Strauss. Although he hardly ever went beyond the boundaries of tonality, Poot's works also show early 20th century influences and both the Allegro risoluto and the other parts show modern harmonic principles (such as an increasing degree of dissonance). The Andante uses the traditional three-part structure, of which the middle part is an Allegro deciso. This Allegro is quick and lively and therefore in sharp contrast with the two other parts, which use free imitation to form a kind of contrapuntal web. The Presto e vigoroso, which alternates rhythmical passages and virtuoso clarinet solos, seems to be influenced by Stravinsky because of its lively rhythm. The piece is interrupted by a Poco più moderato, which again uses an imitative passage between clarinet, bassoon, hobo and flute and is therefore reminiscent of the Andante.

Poots entire body of work is characterised by the conscious avoidance of existing systems and the absence of any form of routine. Poot's motto was that "everything that is the system leads to "barrenness" and could be interpreted as a criticism of the principles of dodecaphony and serialism.

Fernand Terby (1928-2004)

Fernand Terby studied at the Brussels Royal Conservatory. He was awarded the first prizes for cello and chamber music and won the H. Cutsen Prize for cello in 1950. Terby created an international career as a cellist, but he became most famous as a conductor. In 1953 he won the La Monnaie conductors' competition after which he headed an ensemble performing popular light opera pieces at the Alhambra theatre of La Monnaie. One year later Terby won the conductors' competition of the Belgian broadcasting cooperation BRT and was appointed conductor of the broadcasting cooperation orchestra. In 1963 he became the conductor of the Variety and Festival Orchestra of the broadcasting cooperation and thee years later he became first conductor at the broadcasting cooperation. Terby proved his professional abilities at the broadcasting orchestras and in 1978 he was appointed permanent chief conductor of the BRT Philharmonic Orchestra. Terby was mainly appreciated for his legendary huge repertoire, from popular music to creations of new music, and for his numerous recordings of Flemish music, mostly recorded in the renowned Studio 4 at Flagey square in Brussels. In addition to his activities as a conductor, Terby was a lecturer at the Antwerp Royal Flemish Conservatory.

Mendi Rodan (°1929)

Mendi Rodan was born in Yassi, Romania. He studied the violin and conducting with Constantin Silvestri at the Bucharest Music Academy and became chief conductor at Romanian Radio Broadcasting in 1953. Rodan and his family immigrated to Israel in 1961. Shortly afterwards he made his debut at the Ramat Gan Chamber Orchestra in Israel. Since then Rodan has been very active within Israeli cultural life. His career as a conductor is vast and extremely varied. He was chief conductor and musical director of the Jerusalem Symphonic Orchestra, founder of the Jerusalem Chamber Orchestra, musical director of the Israeli Sinfonietta, musical director and permanent conductor at the Belgian National Orchestra, conductor at the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition and the Harp International Competition in Israel, etc. Rodan was also a regular guest conductor at the most prestigious orchestras in Europe, the US, China, Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Canada and worked with the most eminent soloists, such as Arthur Rubinstein, Mstislav Rostropovich, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Daniel Barenboim, Jacqueline Du Prez and many others. In addition to his activities as a conductor, Rodan also held various academic positions. He was a guest lecturer at universities such as Bloomington and Brigham Young in the United States and at the Conservatoire Supérieur in Paris. In 1997 the Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture declared Rodan Musician of the Year.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) – Clarinet Quintet Op. 115 (1891)

The chamber music of Johannes Brahms takes a crucial place in the 19th century history of German instrumental composition. In an era where most composers applied themselves to composing orchestral works, Brahms continued in the tradition of Ludwig von Beethoven, Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert and was responsible for the revival of chamber music. The second half of the 19th century was characterised by two different currents within German music: absolute (or abstract) music, whose favoured genre was the symphony, and program music, a prime example of which is the symphonic poems of Franz Liszt. The latter adhered to the so-called ‘Neudeutsche Schule’, against whom Brahms, together with a number of other musicians and composers, signed a manifest in 1860. Brahms believed that music should refer only to itself and not to something other than music itself, such as a work of literature, drama or imagery. The result was, among others, a strong partiality to the more traditional genres in chamber music.

One of the differences between Brahms and his most important models was that the string quartet does not take a central position within his works for chamber music. After some twenty failed attempts, he published his first two string quartets Op. 51 in 1873, but Brahms’ genius is best expressed in the works for differentiated instruments, among which the Clarinet Quintet Op. 115 is considered one of Brahms’ most beautiful and best works for chamber music.

At the time that Brahms was planning to stop composing, he met Richard Mühlfeld, principal clarinettist of the Meiningen Orchestra, whose virtuosity and musical expression inspired him to compose four works for clarinet: the Trio Op. 114 (1891), the Quintet Op. 115 (1891) and the two Sonatas, Op. 120 (1894). Brahms preferred the Trio, but history would later determine that the Clarinet Quintet would become the most popular of the four.
As one of the last composers of the Romantic era, Brahms composed relatively few works for woodwinds. The oboe played an important part in Brahms’ orchestral sound, but does not have the same wide range as the clarinet, which, encompassing three registers, can produce an enormous variety of different timbres. Its expressive qualities were what inspired Brahms most to compose for this instrument.

In general, Brahms’ later works are characterised by a great simplicity of style and an increasing thematic development of the musical material, which imbue his compositions with a profound emotional expression. The sequence and form of the separate movements of the quintet are in no way reactionary, but the continuous development of the motivic material and the thematic relationship between the different movements are indeed remarkable.
The entire quintet is characterised by tonal ambiguity, which comes to the foreground especially in the Allegro. This ambiguity is partly the result of a short, quasi-improvisational introduction in the violins in B minor, after which the clarinet – almost as uncertain as the violins – makes its entrance in D major. Only after eighteen measures does the tonic key of B minor appear for the first time. A typical characteristic of this movement is the perfect integration of strings and clarinet, resulting in a refined musicality, an intimate emotional expression and a beautiful timbre.

It is especially the Adagio that is responsible for the enormous popularity of this quintet. It was already at the premiere performance in Berlin on 12 December 1881 that this movement was repeated as an encore. The opening of the Adagio is rhythmically very original with its use of syncopation, as well as very complex, but it is especially in the più lento that Brahms is praised for his originality. Here, the clarinet takes the position of a ‘primus inter pares’. Its extensive range, tonal flexibility and dynamic variation all allow the clarinet to be heard above the strings and to perform as a soloist in this movement. Perhaps Brahms was inspired by Hungarian gypsy ensembles, in which the clarinet often plays a prominent part. That Brahms based some of his work on traditional Hungarian folk music and the ‘alla zingarese’ style was nothing new, but it is without doubt that this Adagio will always remain one of the most beautiful examples of the academic interpretation of gypsy music.

After the Andantino – Presto non assai, ma con sentimento, in which the Andantino functions as a sort of bridge between the Adagio and the Presto, the last movement sets in. As far as the form is concerned, the Con moto is the most original of the four movements and comprises a theme and five variations, followed by a coda. The use of the principle of variation in a final movement harks back to the compositions of Mozart and Beethoven, but Brahms’ inventive treatment of the musical material within this earlier traditional form is especially strong. The last movement transcends the previous movements in the sense that the various themes and motives from the entire quintet are once again varied and repeated. Remarkable is the recapitulation of the quasi-improvisational introduction of the first part in the coda. At the time, it was not novel to end the last movement with the beginning of the first movement. Brahms had already applied the same principle in his String Quartet Op. 67 (1875), but the mood was more extroverted here. In the Clarinet Quintet’s final movement, the reprise of the opening theme after the contrasting variations of the finale calls to mind the same mood as that of the melancholy Allegro. The melancholy mood was probably one of the reasons why the Clarinet Quintet is still described as an exceptionally melodic, but at the same time nostalgic work; as a metaphor for Brahms’ last years, in which he reflects on years of musical creativity and in which he admits with regret having to withdraw from composition.

Ensemble Walter Boeykens

The Walter Boeykens Ensemble is an international ensemble bringing together the best Belgian and international musicians according to the needs of the selected repertoire. Their binding factor is a shared passion for chamber music. Within the chamber music repertoire, in which a prominent part is played by the clarinet, they not only go in search of works by Mozart, Brahms, Weber, Beethoven, Schubert, Rossini, Donizetti and Poulenc, but also look for contributions by lesser-known composers and contemporary Belgian composers. All of the ensemble’s musicians have contracts with the most interesting CD labels and are invited to give master classes all over the world. In the 90’s, the ensemble signed on with Harmonia Mundi for a fifteen-year period in which to record the most important chamber music works for the clarinet .

Violinist Marjeta Korosec, originally from Slovenia, was awarded the Carl Flesch Award in London and became laureate at the International Queen Elisabeth Contest in 1967. As a soloist, she has toured extensively all over Europe and Israel and has performed chamber music in a variety of different ensembles. From 1974 to 2005 she was concertmaster of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Belgian Radio and Television, now the Flemish Radio and Television.

Eric Baeten studied the violin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp and perfected his playing at the Conservatory of Utrecht with Viktor Lieberman. He was leader of the second violins at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders and at I Fiamminghi. He is now again affiliated with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, as first soloist of the first violin section. In addition to his position as a permanent member of the Walter Boeykens Ensemble, he is also the founder of the chamber music ensemble “Solisti da Camera”, with whom he also performs. He is also frequently invited as a guest soloist by various Belgian and international chamber music ensembles.

Thérèse-Marie Gilissen obtained the highest diploma in viola and chamber music and was first graduate of the music band Queen Elisabeth in 1974 as first violist. She was laureate at the Music Competition at Tenuto, the Prix de la Vocation, and at the International Performing Competition in Geneva in 1982. As a soloist and chamber musician, she regularly performs in Europe, Canada, Central-Africa and the USA.

After completing his studies in Belgium, cellist Luc Dewez perfected his art in Germany. He performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte Carlo and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders. As a member of the Grumiaux Trio and the Brussels String Quartet, he has performed all over the world. Dewez also worked together with renowned artists such as Philippe Hirrschorn, Abdel Rahman el Bacha, Frank Braley, Marc Grauwels, etc.