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The Digital Baermann

US-Wc

List of cited sources held at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

This page is referenced by:

Weber: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, op. 73 Composer
Carl Maria von Weber

Work title
Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, op. 73

Composition date
1811

Manuscript sources
Autograph score from Weber's private library in D-B ms. autogr. C. M. v. Weber WFN 11.
Autograph copy in Weber's hand, previously owned and used by Heinrich and Carl Baermann, in US-Wc ML30.8b .W4 (see below). This score contains various annotations and alterations, including the insertion of the 16-bar 'Baermann cadenza' in the first movement.

A number of annotations added and subsequently deleted from US-Wc do not have parallels in the later Baermann edition. These likely reflect the ongoing development of the Baermann's performance practices as well as what information they felt needed to be conveyed to the orchestra in rehearsal and performance. The following is based solely on examination of the digitised score; an in-person inspection may yield more information.

I b. 47: [pause symbol]
I b. 96: 'ritard'
I b. 278 indications to slow down: both Weber's hand and subsequent annotations have been excised

II 18–20: alternating Forte and Piano markings on each phrase.

III b. 124: 'poco meno'
III b. 282: 'Tempo I'
III b. 332: 'piu allegro'

Early Prints
First edition, supervised by Weber: Schlesinger pl. 1177 (1824), piano version digitised by D-Mbs 4 Mus.pr. 89.717.

Carl Baermann Edition
Robert Lineau/Schlesinger, pl. S. 1177 (1870). Available commercially as part of the Henle Urtext edition (see below), and as Lineau RL36270.
Significant additions and alterations to all aspects of the music, including the inclusion of the 16-bar 'Baermann cadenza' in the 1st movement, as well as metronome marks for movements and sections.

Metronome marks:
I Allegro: crotchet = 108
b. 110 con anima: 'Tempo ritenuto' crotchet = 92
b. 130 lusingando e con espressione: 'Con moto': crotchet = 100
b. 145: 'Tempo I': crotchet = 112
b. 170: 'Un poco ritenuto': crotchet = 92
b. 192: grazioso: 'Tempo I': crotchet = 100

II Adagio ma non troppo crotchet = 46
b. 31 Poco più animato: crotchet = 66

III 'Allegro' [Weber: Allegretto]: crotchet = 120

Modern Editions
Henle 731, edited by Norbert Gertsch. Henle (2002). Urtext version based on the MS sources and first edition, alongside Baermann's edition.
Weber Sämtliche Werke V Bd. 6., Schott WGA 1056 (2010), edited by Frank Heidlberger. Also available as Schott KLB 78 (piano reduction, first edition version only) and Eulenberg ETP 1902 (miniature score with parallel clarinet parts).

Notes
See prefaces and critical commentaries to the urtexts by Gertsch (2002) and Heidlberger (2010) for further information.

Explore further sources in the Virtual Archive relating to Baermann's edition of this work by following the path below.
Weber: Grand duo concertant, op. 48
Composer
Carl Maria von Weber

Work title
Grand duo concertant, op. 48

Composition date
1815–16

Manuscript Sources
Autograph sketches in D-B
Autograph fair copy is digitised in US-Wc. According to Allroggen and Holsträter, these were made by Weber for his own archive, and do not derive from same source as D-B.
Engraver’s proof is in A-Wst.

Early prints
First edition, Schlesinger pl. 253 (1817), digitised by D-Mbs (see below)

Carl Baermann Edition
Robert Lineau pl. S. 5590 (1869). Commercially available as RL36080. Comparative clarinet part forthcoming.
Baermann's edition features extensive changes to phrasing and articulation, additional and changed dynamics, additional tempo and expression indications, and metronome marks in the first and second movements. He also adds rehearsal letters.
Notably, Baermann's changes to the phrasing marks tend towards replacing Weber's unusually long slurs with shorter ones, or removing them entirely, creating a more articulated and less legato effect overall.

Metronome marks:
Allegro con fuoco: minim = 116
Andante con moto: crotchet = 48
Rondo Allegro: no mark

Modern editions
Weber Sämtliche Werke VI Bd. 3., Schott WGA 1063 (2005), edited by Gerhard Allroggen and Knut Holsträter. Also published as Schott KLB 58. Gives priority to the engraver's proof (A-Wst).

Notes
For further sources, see the Weber Gesamtasugabe.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy to Heinrich Baermann, 9 July 1831 From Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Milan, 9 July 1831
To Heinrich Baermann

Source US-Wc, ML30.8j Box 1 Folder 10. No digitisation currently available.
Transcription Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, et al. Sämtliche Briefe. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2008, vol. II p. 313–15.

Summary Mendelssohn admonishes Baermann for not replying to his last letter and states his plans to be in Munich soon. He says he looks forward 'like a child' to playing for and with Baermann in Munich.

Mendelssohn says he is working on ‘a great composition’ which he will play and sing to Baermann when he visits (probably Die erste Walpurgisnacht op. 60). He discusses his travel plans and then asks after Baermann’s sons, as well as about mutual friends: "Have Carl tune the piano properly. How is he? and how is the basset horn? and how is Heinrich’s painting?". Mendelssohn finishes by sending greetings to many mutual friends, and signs the letter ‘Bluebeard’.
Excerpts: Mendelssohn on Heinrich Baermann's playing
“vorspielen will ich Ihnen so lange und so viel von Weber ich kann und Sie wollen, aber die Clarinette muß auch heraus und wir müssen was zusammen vornehmen, auch das es dur Stück und das f moll Concert hör’ ich dann wieder, und schon heute, freu ich mich, wie ein Kind drauf, denn ich habe doch in meinem Leben nicht schönre Töne gehört, als die Ihrigen, Sie Alter! Und den Nachmittag bei Staudacher, wo Sie das Concert spielten vergeß ich nicht; seitdem hab’ ich nicht wieder so Musik machen können. Das muß ich einmal wieder haben, und mich wieder daran freuen. Darum komm ich wieder zu Euch; nehmt mich freundlich auf.” (p. 314)

“I want to play you as long and as much of Weber as I can and you want, but the clarinet also has to come out and we have to do something together, and I'll hear the E flat major piece and the F minor concerto again, and I'm already looking forward to it like a child, because I've never heard more beautiful sounds in my life than yours, you old man! And I'll never forget the afternoon at Staudacher's when you played the concert; I haven't been able to make music like that since. I must have that again, and enjoy it once more. That's why I'm coming to you again; give me a warm welcome.”

“Grüßen Sie auch Ihre b Clarinett, die ein gutes Ding ist und vor der ich besondern Respect habe. Alle die Clarinettisten die ich in Italien gehört habe, müssen durchaus mit einem hölzernen Beine geboren seyn und auf Höfen spielen; man möchte ihnen immer was herunterwerfen ins Orchester, so abgelebt und miserabel klingt es. Aber das sagen Sie um Gotteswillen keinem Menschen in München; sie möchten mich sonst steinigen. Die Deutschen können es ein ganz Ende besser. Aber das muß man den Deutschen gar nicht sagen, sonst nehmen sie es übel. Also auf baldiges Wiedersehn, lieber Bärmann. Denken Sie freundlich meiner.” (p. 314–5)

“Give my regards also to your B[flat] clarinet, which is a good thing and for which I have particular respect. All the clarinettists I have heard in Italy must have been born with wooden legs and play in farmyards; you always want to throw something down into the orchestra, it sounds so worn out and miserable. But for God's sake don't tell anyone in Munich that; they'd stone me to death. The Germans can do a whole lot better. But you don't have to tell the Germans that, otherwise they'll take it the wrong way. So see you soon, dear Bärmann. Think kindly of me.”

Post-edited Deepl translation
References
Primary Sources: Holding Institutions and Collections
CH-SGv Kantonsbibliothek Vadiana, St. Gallen
D-B Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung, Berlin
D-Bim Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung - Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin
D-Dl Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Dresden
D-Heu Universitätsbibliothek, Heidelberg
D-Hs Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Carl von Ossietzky, Musiksammlung, Theatersammlung, Hamburg
D-Hth Universität Hamburg, Zentrum für Theaterforschung, Theatersammlung, Hamburg
D-KA Badische Landesbibliothek, Karlsruhe
D-LEsm Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Bibliothek, Leipzig
D-Mbs Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München
GB-Lbl The British Library, London
GB-Ob Bodleian Library, Oxford
US-NYpm Pierpont Morgan Library, New York
US-Wc Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Secondary Sources
Erdt, Robert. Der Münchner Klarinettenvirtuose Carl Baermann als Pädagoge, Klarinettist und Komponist. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2009

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, et al. Sämtliche Briefe. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2008

Meyerbeer, Giacomo. Briefwechsel und Tagebücher. Edited by Heinz Becker. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1959-2006

Nohl, Ludwig, ed. Musiker-Briefe: eine Sammlung Briefe von C.W. von Gluck, Ph. E. Bach, Jos. Haydn, Carl Maria von Weber und Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1867.

Poissl, Johann Nepomuk von. Briefe (1807-1855): ein Blick auf die Münchener Musik- und Theatergeschichte. Edited by Volkmar von Pechstaedt. Göttingen: Hainholz, 2006

Online databases
Hofmeister XIX
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy to Heinrich Baermann, 5 September 1832 From Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Berlin, 5 September 1832
To Heinrich Baermann

Source US-Wc, ML30.8j Box 1 Folder 10. No digitisation currently available.
Transcription Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, et al. Sämtliche Briefe. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2008, vol. III p. 49–51

Summary Mendelssohn speaks of his illness and bereavements and asks for news from Munich to cheer him up. He congratulates Baermann on his son Carl's appointment as Kammermusiker. ‘I am very pleased that Karl is now a true, real, but not secret chamber musician; he will certainly go far and the apple will not fall far from the tree’. He apologises for not being successful in getting an essay by Baermann's essay published in the French press, and reports that he has translated it into English and will send it to the Harmonicon in England. However, he is concerned that it may not be taken up as the clarinetist Thomas Lindsay Willman is still held in the highest regard there, and suggests that HB should instead have it published ‘here’ (Berlin). Mendelssohn offers to make an introduction and notes ‘here every student of the clarinet knows you, and I believe that much more success could be expected here’. He closes by sending greetings to mutual friends.