Grand Duo Concertant (Weber)

{{Short description|Musical work by Carl Maria von Weber}}

The Grand Duo Concertant, Opus 48, J204, is a three-movement work for clarinet and piano composed by Carl Maria von Weber from 1815 to 1816. It is a virtuosic piece for both instruments.{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Clive|title=Nineteenth-Century Chamber Music (edited by Stephen E. Hefling)|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|pages=144–145}} Weber most likely composed the work for himself (on piano) and his friend Heinrich Baermann, a leading clarinettist of the era, although it has also been suggested that the intended clarinettist was Johann Simon Hermstedt.{{cite news|title=Review: Sonatas; Grand duo concertant / Danzi, Mendelssohn, Weber (Charles Neidich and Robert Levin)|work=Gramophone|issue=September 1995}}{{cite news|last1=Warrack|first1=John|title=Review: Ries / Weber (Taillard / Torbianelli)|work=Gramophone|issue=April 2003}}

The three movements are as follows:

1. Allegro con fuoco
2. Andante con moto
3. Rondo: allegro

The second and third movements were completed before the first and were probably performed in 1815 for King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria at the Nymphenburg Palace.{{cite book|last1=Rice|first1=Albert R.|title=The Clarinet in the Classical Period|url=https://archive.org/details/clarinetclassica00rice|url-access=limited|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/clarinetclassica00rice/page/n209 189]}} During its composition, Weber designated the work as a sonata, but abandoned that title upon its completion. This decision reflected the work's character as more of a showcase for two virtuosos than a conventionally structured and integrated work.{{cite book|last1=Warrack|first1=John|title=Carl Maria Von Weber|date=1976|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521291216|page=374}} The first movement is in sonata form,{{cite book|last1=Warrack|first1=John|title=Carl Maria Von Weber|date=1976|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521291216|page=178}} the second movement is an Andante in C minor, and the finale is a lilting rondo in E-flat major. The British music critic John Warrack suggests the work could be referred to as a "double concerto without orchestra", reflecting the highly virtuosic roles for both performers.{{cite news|last1=Warrack|first1=John|title=Review: Weber (Moragues, Izuha, Prazak Quartet)|work=Gramophone|issue=October 2001}}

The autograph manuscript of the work is preserved in the Library of Congress.