Adagio aus dem Militärconcert
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Title
Adagio aus dem Militärconcert
Genre:
Classic
Repertoire:
with Piano
Composition Year:
1899
Original / Trascription:
Original
Publishing House
C. F. Schmidt, Heilbronn
Publication Year:
1899
Notes
The Adagio aus dem Militärconcert by J. Kühn cannot be precisely dated, nor is the reason for the military appellation readily apparent. Presumably a part of a full concerto, it is the only published work by Kühn. It was first published by C. F. Schmidt between 1898 and 1903 but was acquired by them when they bought the rights to a catalog of music owned by the Verlag Kremer, a Viennese publishing firm.1 As with the other works published by Schmidt, Hofmeister lists it as a work for bass clarinet, while later catalogs list it also for basson and trombone.
Uncertainty about the originally intended solo instrument for this work is not relieved by the name of Robert Müller, who is credited under the composer's name as the editor of the work. Robert Müller wrote several study works for trombone, including a Schule für Zugposaune (Wilheml Zimmermann, 1902) and could also have been the same Robert Müller who was listed as a trombonist in Leipzig's Gewandhausorchester in 1881.2 Whether the editor of the Kühn work is this same trombonist is an open question.
The movement in B-flat major is ninety-eight measures in length. Excluding two appearance of C (in one case an ossia), the range is from G to c'', a span of two octaves and a fourth. The portion of the range used most extensively is the octave between g and g'. The distribution of range by fifths is as follows:
With the exception of two cadenze, one of which is twelve measures in length and, accompanied by sustained tremolo pedals, has the indication "Nach in nach schneller" followed by rallentando, the adagio tempo is maintained throughout. In a floridly embellished operatic style, arpeggiated and scalar figures in thirty- seconds and gruppeti occur frequently. Smoothness and tonal control, rather than agility, are important to successful performance. A dynamic range of p to f is indicated.
© Aber, "A history of the bass clarinet as an orchestra and solo instrument in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and an annotated, chronological list of solo repertoire for the bass clarinet from before 1945": 113-114
1 Carl Friedrich Dreher of C. F. Schmidt Verlag Heilbronn, interview by author, July 1988
2 See Pazdírek, U-HM 8: 547; and Alfred Dörfel, Geschichte der Gewandhausconcerte zu Leipzig..., (Leizig, 1884; reprint, 6229 Walluf bei Wiesbaden: Dr. Martin Sändig, oHG., 1972), 181.