Saint-Saens 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-Saëns 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.