“To Me, Every Note Is a Living Thing” Jörg Widmann in Conversation about Weber’s Clarinet Quintet
Mr.Widmann, you are not only a composer and clarinetist, but also a dedecated admirer of the music of Carl Maria von Weber. In today’s concert you dedicate yourself to his Clarinet Quintet… At the risk of sounding presumptuous: I would like to attempt a rehabilitation of this composer because I think he is terribly underrated. Even among highly esteemed colleagues, by the way. In conversation, there is always that element of “Yes, perhaps, but…” And that “but” is always about ultimately denying that Weber has a certain depth—a depth of feeling we accord the so-called “great composers.” Often, his virtuosity itself is criticized, the scales, the broken arpeggios. His Clarinet Quintet is a welcome object of criticism, if you want to look at it that way. But you’re taking a different view. I think Weber’s virtuosity is always soulful. I do see some weak points, but I would always like to defend him. (laughs) Take his Concertino: to me, it’s a masterwork. Twelve minutes, not one note too many—everything is in place. That slow introduction, and then such a naïve theme—naïve in the most beautiful sense—only Weber could come up with something like that. The following variations are never humdrum, they have their very own sonority. To write a variation just for low violas, the low register of the clarinet, and timpani, that creates an extraordinary, strange sensation. Schumann would have called it “a disreputable moment,” “eine verrufene Stelle.” This multitude of colors is something we always have to keep in mind in Weber’s music. Weber was a champion of the clarinet, of its very own idiom, but his Clarinet Quintet has still remained a bit of a wallflower. That’s true. When we think of the great clarinet quintets, it’s always Mozart, Brahms, and Reger. There is a line of tradition, 18
