Today, I listen to CD 15 – Clarinet Trio in A minor (recorded 1997) and Clarinet Quintet in B minor (recorded 1996). Both were composed in 1891. Brahms was 58.
I really wanted to like this, too. Alas.
The clarinet is delightful instrument. Ditto for the cello.
And who can’t enjoy the piano, violins, and the viola? Fine instruments, one and all.
And yet, I found myself bored to tears listening to this. Not even the pizzicato sprinkled here and there helped matters. In fact, that was about the most noteworthy and enjoyable element for me.
I thought the tempo in both was lugubrious, the melodies hard to find or non existent.
When I listen to a piece of Classical music I want to be riveted, blown away by something – a really stirring melody, an emotional passage, cleverness of some kind.
I got none of that with these compositions.
Now, keep in mind. I’m not a musicologist. I don’t make music or study music for a living. So it’s likely I’m not sophisticated enough for this. So I’m in no way criticizing the musicianship. They all played fine. It’s the compositions themselves that didn’t move me.
To each his own.