Title: Sonate für Klarinette solo, op. 110
Description: Die Werk ist ein gelungener Versuch, die einstimmige miniaturisierte "lineare" Anlage des Sonatenbaus noch erfahrbar zu machen, ohne daß die tonalen Disziplinen verloren gehen. - amadeusmusic.ch

Karg-Elert's Sonata for clarinet solo op. 110 is one of the few successful works with a "one-voiced" polyphonic architecture. An impressionistic approach with meticulously placed signs of expression underlines and clarifies this unusual attempt at an extremely miniaturized "linear" sonata form. Despite references to the time when the highly gifted Karg-Elert was still a "comrade of contemporary music" with its aleatoric "noises" and search for new soundscapes, one can but wonder why he later left this experimental phase to immerse himself in virtuosic and impressionist forms, paying tribute to the melodic-tonal heritage. His brilliant music-theoretical skills no doubt helped him spice up his harmonies without any loss of tonal discipline. This also applies to his handling of the instruments: their specific timbre and range, as in the Trio for Oboe, clarinet and cor anglais, are sensitively explored (the clarinet making extensive use of the Chalumeau register). "Dedicated to Max Frendel, Löwenberg in Schl.", the Sonata for clarinet solo was published in 1925 by Leipzig publisher Zimmermann. Siegfried Theodor Karg (original name) was born in Oberndorf am Neckar on 21 November 1877, the son of bookseller Johann Jakob Karg. In 1882 the family moved to Leipzig. His perfect pitch and lovely soprano voice enabled the boy to join the choir of Leipzig's Johanneskirche, where he also received his first piano lessons. His first attempts at composition inspired Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek to recommend him for a three-year grant from Leipzig Conservatoire, where his teachers included Salomon Jadassohn and Carl Reinecke. He earnt his living as a substitute in orchestras and as a "flaxen-bearded, masked pianist in pubs". In 1901 he went to Magdeburg, where for almost two years he taught piano at the Sannemann Conservatoire, and later at the New Conservatoire; it was here that, at the director's request, he changed his name to Sigfrid Karg-Elert. Back in Leipzig, which he would leave occasionally for short concert tours, Karg-Elert was encouraged by Edvard Grieg to concentrate on composition. A meeting with publisher Carl Simon led him (as a brilliant organist) to experiment with the harmonium, and inspired a large oeuvre as well as didactic treatises. After stays in London, where his harmonium and organ works brought him considerable success, he was appointed to succeed Reger as professor of composition and theory at the Leipzig Conservatoire. By the time he died in Leipzig on 9 April 1933, his output numbered over 200 titles. Apart from his many piano and organ works -- which still belong to the repertoire -- he left lieder, choral works and timeless chamber music inspired by archaic structures; this includes a wind quintet, a piano trio, a violoncello sonata, two clarinet sonatas, and sacred songs for organ and violin, works whose frequent use of the B-A-C-H motif reveals the influence of Johann Sebastian Bach. - amadeusmusic.ch