Replies

In his clarinet quintet, Mozart ended with a theme-and-variations movement with four variations. Brahms just had to outdo that, and the finale of his Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B minor, Op. 115, has five variations. The movement is marked con moto,which simply means “with motion”. He wants to keep it moving.

It’s a simple theme in B minor that starts off the movement.
At 1:09, in Variation #1 the cello sings around the melody while the clarinet and other strings accompany.
At 2:14, in Variation #2, the strings take up the theme while the clarinet sings around them.
At 3:30, in Variation #3, all five instruments dance around the theme.
At 4:51, in Variation #4, the obligatory major key variation sounds a bit like “I Am Sixteen, Going on Seventeen”.
At 6:15, in Variation #5, the tune sounds a lot like “Sunrise Sunset”.
But at the end of the variation (7:04), Brahms shocks by returning to the melisma of the first subject of the first movement, indicating that is going to be a cyclical piece. Having made this statement, he finishes the variation but co-mingles it with the first subject in a genuine masterstroke. The end is bleak and uncompromising. In a good performance the audience is sobbing before the applause begins.

Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115, fourth movement