Brahms’ Last Instrumental Works Are His Most Heavenly
In appreciation of the Two Sonatas for viola and piano, Op. 120
In 1890, Brahms, though not yet 60 years old, felt that his health was declining and decided to make his String Quintet, Op. 111, his final work and to retire from composing. But on a visit to Meiningen a year later, he met and heard Richard Mühlfeld, principal clarinetist of the renowned court orchestra (which Brahms himself had once directed). Deeply impressed by Mühlfeld’s playing, Brahms postponed his retirement indefinitely and composed four of his greatest works for him: the Piano Trio, Op. 114; the Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115, in 1892; and the Two Sonatas, Op. 120, in 1894. The two friends premiered the sonatas in Vienna in 1895. To give the Sonatas the widest possible circulation, Brahms made two transcriptions of the clarinet part, one for violin and one for viola. The former was not a success. The viola, on the other hand, is a natural surrogate: its range is very close to that of the clarinet, so the piano part could remain unchanged.
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