• for bass clarinet and piano

• Composed between 1898-1902

• Published by C.F. Schmidt - C.F.S. 4503

• French notation

• 74 measures

• Extension range: from G to b-flat'

The "Romanze" by August Klughardt (1847-1902) is similar to the first publications for bass clarinet in its stately and simple hymnlike character. The range of the piece, which extends two octaves and a minor third from G to b-flat', is somewhat highet than that of Pillevestre's "Offertoire", but, with the exception of an occasional measure moving in eights, the technical demands are similarly light. The distribution of this compass is:

Extension notes
E-B: 5%
c-g: 22%
a-e': 61%
f'-c'': 12%
d'' and above: less than 1%

Treble clef is used

This concentrates the greatest portion of the piece to a narrow tessitura centered on the break between the instrument's upper and lower register. The "Romanze" is an andante in B-flat major, seventy-nine measures in length, using French notation for the bass clarinet part. The vast majority of motion in note-values shorter than one beat is provided by the accompaniment, for which an orchestral version was published in addition to that for piano. A brief, unaccompanied recitative appears before the final statement of the principal melody by the bass clarinet, emotionally heightened in this last appearance by the indications "drängend (urgent) and langsamer (slower)."

The date of composition of this work is unknown although 1902, the date of the composer’s death, places a limit on the possibilities. Romanze was originally published by C. F. Schmidt of Heilbronn before 1903, as it is included in Hofmeister’s Handbuch der Musikalischen Literatur, a catalog of music publications, which appeared in 1903.

It is currently published by C.F. Schmidt, Renningen, (1990) C.F.S. 4503.