Performance practice of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115

Since its genesis in 1891, the Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115 by Johannes Brahms has become one of the most highly performed chamber pieces in the clarinet repertoire. Not surprisingly the work has been recorded by several famous clarinetists in the past century. When learning to play a piece, a musician will often listen to one or many recordings of the work to gain a better understanding of its interpretation. This paper will investigate the stylistic interpretations of the first movement of Brahms's Clarinet Quintet by clarinetists Reginald Kell, Paul Meyer, Karl Leister and Mitchell Lurie utilizing landmark recordings by these artists. In the conclusion the author will reflect upon how this research affected her own performance of the work.