Henle Urtext Edition Clarinet Sonata, Op. 167

Henle was able to consult the autograph of the Clarinet Sonata op. 167 for the first time for their Urtext edition. “At the moment I am putting my last ounce of energy into giving seldom considered instruments an opportunity to be heard,” Saint-Saens wrote to a friend in Apirl of the year he died. A sonata for oboe, one for clarinet and one for bassoon were thus composed; yet he was not to hear the premieres. As far as form and inflection are concerned, the three wind sonatas op. 166-168 hark back to the gallant style of the 18th century and thus approach the neoclassicism movement around 1920. Humor, wit and fine irony characterize these works for wind.