Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Konzertstück Nr. 2 op. 114 d-moll

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's Concert Pieces Nos. 1 and 2 were written as a result of his meeting and friendship with the clarinettists Heinrich Joseph Baermann and his son Carl. The young composer had made friends with the Munich clarinet virtuosos on his great European tour in 1831, and there were several humorous exchanges of letters as a result. During a visit by Heinrich Joseph and Carl Baermann to Berlin, they met for a cooking and composing session. A corresponding entry can be found in the Baermann family register. At Mendelssohn's Berlin residence, the Baermanns were to prepare steamed dumplings and cream strudel, for which the composer wrote the two concert pieces. The result was small miniature concertos in three short, intertwining movements, which in their whimsical, virtuoso and sonorous manner are also an impressive testimony to the Baermanns' artistry.