Description
Felix Mendelssohn’s Concertpiece No. 1 in F Minor, Opus 113 was originally composed for clarinet, basset horn, and piano and carried the whimsical title: The Battle of Prague, Grand Duet for Dumpling with Pastry and Cream, or Clarinet and Basset Horn, composed and most humbly dedicated to Bärmann senior and Bärmann junior by their very loyal servant Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The story behind this unique title is equally as charming as the title itself. The famous father-son clarinet duo, Heinrich and Carl Bärmann, agreed to reward their friend, Mendelssohn, with his favorite meal of dumplings with pastry and cream if he managed to compose a work for them by 5 o’clock that very day. Mendelssohn completed the composition by the designated hour, and no doubt was rewarded with a full stomach, as the clarinet repertoire was rewarded with a significant addition to its canon. It is now a pleasure to add this arrangement to the list of works for the double reed family. The world premier of this arrangement occurred at the 2015 IDRS conference in Tokyo, Japan, performed by Albie Micklich, Martin Schuring, and Midori Nagahara.
