Franz Joseph Clement - Violin Concerto No. 2 (c.1810)

Franz Joseph Clement (November 17, 1780 – November 3, 1842), was an Austrian violinist, pianist, composer, conductor of Vienna's Theater an der Wien, and a friend of Ludwig van Beethoven.

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Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor (publ. 1810)

1. Moderato (0:00)
2. Adagio (20:08)
3. Rondo. Allegro (27:42)

Mirijam Contzen, violin and the WDR Sinfonieorchester conducted by Reinhard Goebel
Live rec. 2018/19, WDR, Funkhaus, Klaus-von-Bismarck-Saal, Köln, Germany

Franz Clement was a child prodigy with the violin, wowing audiences from the age of eight in a city that a generation earlier had been astonished by Mozart. At the age of 20, he was appointed concertmaster of the Theater an der Wien orchestra and quickly made it the best in the city. It was Clement to whom Beethoven turned for the premiere of the Eroica symphony in 1805, an occasion at which Clement also played his first concerto. The critics didn’t appreciate the Beethoven but praised Clement highly. When Beethoven wrote his violin concerto the following year, it was at the request of Clement. Further, Beethoven acknowledged his non-idiomatic knowledge of the solo violin by leaving some of the solo parts incomplete or with options, requiring Clement to make a significant contribution to what has become one of the greatest works of the repertoire. Clearly, Clement was to Beethoven as David was to Mendelssohn and Joachim to Brahms.

The second concerto, of which this is the first recording, followed Clement’s premiere of the Beethoven, and if Beethoven was influenced by Clement’s First, then Clement seems to be paying homage to Beethoven here. The structure (dominated by the 20+ minute opening movement), scoring (an important role for the timpani) and the overall atmosphere make this almost feel like a work that Beethoven discarded because it wasn’t up to his exalted standards. I realise that sounds a little (or perhaps a lot) demeaning to Clement, but it is Beethoven we are referencing. Take the genius out of Beethoven and you get just about everyone who has ever put pen to stave. So, let’s not try to make comparisons with the incomparable. This concerto, like the first, has much to enjoy - many lovely passages, plenty of drama, a virtuosic solo part - but again like the first, Clement doesn’t have the creative spark to completely fill the structure. I particularly enjoyed the final movement Rondo. The informative booklet notes, written by Reinhard Goebel, suggest that these works are a break from the past, having no trace of Haydn or Mozart, and I am hardly in a position to argue with such an august musician, but I hear echoes of Mozart’s late minor key piano concerto and symphony in the orchestral accompaniment in the first movement.

Clement was quite the showman and must have been an unbelievable character. Not only was there no rehearsal for Beethoven's Violin Concerto premiere he also decided to play in between movements a violin sonata he wrote. He played parts on one string while holding his violin upside down. Makes you wonder what Beethoven thought of this. He had little or no patience with people in general, as he was short fused, but for some reason unbeknownst to us people like Ferdinand Ries, Franz Clement and his nephew Karl could get away with almost anything.

Clement was known to have incredible sightreading skills and could memorize pages after glancing over them. He also played from Beethoven's sketches and autograph score. Anybody who has seen those sketches will be baffled that somebody can play them on first sight. That must have been also Beethoven's attraction to Clement. He must have been very impressed by his violin, conducting and composing skills.