Trio in A Minor, Op. 114 - Clarinet, Cello and Piano

Brahms' Clarinet Trio and Quintet are chronological twins, both having been composed in 1891, first performed the same year, and first published in 1892.  The manuscript score resides in the Munich City Library and is digitized at IMSLP (imslp.org).  A facsimile publication of the manuscript has been recently in print (we do not handle the facsimile).

We carry a Dover score of the Clarinet Trio, in a book entitled "Complete Piano Trios", reproducing Volume 9 of the Breitkopf Collected Works edition of 1926 (Dover/Alfred 25769x).

The Peters set of parts seems to date from 1928, edited by Georg Schumann (1866-1952), a German composer and conductor.  The title given in this edition is "Trio V", implying fifth in a series of piano trios, one of which is the Horn Trio, Op. 40, the other three being traditional piano trios for violin, cello, and piano.  Also on the first page is the enigmatic designation, "Zweite Bearbeitung (1891)," in this case implying reworking or second treatment of the material.  There being no Preface or editorial notes, this term is not specifically explained.  A note at the bottom of the first page states that a violin part was added to the set as a substitute for clarinet.  It seems not unreasonable to guess at a rationale--in purchasing a complete publication of five trios, each work would then have a violin part if needed.  The current printing still includes the violin substitute part, as well as the viola substitute part authorized by the composer.