
Johannes Brahms: Music for Clarinet and Piano
About the album
Throughout many years of collaboration the music of Johannes Brahms has been a constant shining light in Lloyd Van’t Hoff and Peter de Jager’s oeuvre. Inspired and stimulated as they are by the beauty and technical prowess of Brahms’ works, the pair have grown together joyously sharing their thoughts and love for his music. This album is a timely outpouring of affection that Van’t Hoff and de Jager share for this great composer, celebrated through a thoughtfully curated selection of works that warmly embrace their respective instruments.
The album opens with the two Clarinet Sonatas Op. 120. Glowing like fading embers, these Sonatas share a summative quality that is typical of Brahms’ late chamber music, shining with an introspective, generous — if melancholic — spirit. Three of Brahms’ much-adored Hungarian Dances take central position on the album, complimented by a selection of Lieder, paying homage to the singing quality of clarinet playing that was exhibited by Brahms’ muse, Mühlfeld. The inclusion of the beloved lullaby Wiegenlied at the close of this disc is apt, then, if we are to take the Clarinet Sonatas as Brahms’ own “Good evening, good night” to the world.
Join us for the official album launch!
8:30pm AEDT March 10 | Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne
Be the first to get your hands on this album, days before it is released in to the world! Join us in the live studio audience or watch online as we celebrate the music of Johannes Brahms and the release of this new album.
With thanks...
To Buffet Crampon, Four Winds Australia, Sweet Creative for valuing this project.
To my friends Graeme Steele Johnson and Cameron Jamieson for their lovingly crafted contributions to this album.
To Martin Comte, and Barry and Joan Miskin for their continued unwaivering support.