2 × hören: Brahms

Final works always have a special aura. What does the work say about the composer's approaching end? Was he aware of the end of his life? Did he draw a conclusion? Three years before his death, Johannes Brahms wrote his two Clarinet Sonatas, op. 120, in rapid succession. They were not his very last compositions, but at least there were no more chamber works to follow. In fact, Brahms had announced four years earlier that he intended to give up composing altogether. But then he met Richard Mühlfeld and broke his resolution. You can't play the clarinet more beautifully than Mr Mühlfeld here,' Brahms enthused, and composed his E flat major Sonata for the Meiningen clarinettist. On this evening, Matthias Schorn - principal clarinettist of the Vienna Philharmonic, with whom Brahms himself worked closely - and Ariane Haering, in conversation with Markus Fein, trace this swan song and perform it twice.