Johannes Brahms wrote his last chamber music work, the E-flat major Sonata, op. 120, 2, three years before his death for the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. The fact that he published it alternatively for viola had to do with the then still noticeable lack of good wind players. The work consists of three movements. After a lovely opening movement in quiet Allegro, there follows a Scherzo in E-flat minor, with a
very song-like middle section in B major. The finale is a set of variations (theme and 6 variations) in Andante cantabile. Some of these are very developed character variations. The version with string orchestra transfers the piano movement to the manifold possibilities of an orchestra and forms completely new tonal aspects of this wonderful composition.

Clarinet: Viola:

In his setting, Schubert omitted three poems as well as a prologue and an epilogue. Thus he cancelled the irony intended by the poet and the pessimistic ending. The first songs of the cycle are composed in a joyful and forward thrusting manner. The second part of the song cycle turns to resignation, melancholy and impotent anger.
The present version is arranged for soprano, tenor or clarinet and string orchestra.

Whether both composers have met each other is questionable. When Beethoven came to Vienna in 1790 to introduce himself to Mozart as a new student, Mozart was probably travelling (Potsdam). When Beethoven finally moved to Vienna in 1792, Mozart had already died.
The present arrangements of single movements from Mozart's and Beethoven's piano sonatas were composed during my studies in Freiburg in 1970 (Beethoven Year). They were pure instrumentation studies and were never performed. Recently I had the idea of reworking these pieces and combining them. This is a version for string orchestra.
The movements are similar in character and structure to a four-movement symphony, but the keys have been chosen and adapted to each other.
Inside: Mozart, Allegro aus KV 332, Beethoven, Allegretto aus op. 14,1, Beethoven, Largo appassionato aus op. 2,2, Mozart, Alla Turca aus KV 331

This work was composed in 1863/64 and printed in 1884. The original instrumentation consists of alto voice, viola and piano.
The composition has the Christmas carol "Joseph, lieber Joseph mein" as its motto. This version is arranged for small youth orchestra, with the saxophone parts intended as ad libitum (replacing the two French horns).In the opening section, the theme is introduced and developed in numerous variations. The contrasting middle section uses - due to the text - a more dramatic sound with the use of minor and chromaticism. The final section is a shortened form of the opening.
 

Carl Maria von Weber used a Chinese theme from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Dictionnaire de musique for his Chinese overture, written in 1805. Weber's friend, the composer Franz Danzi, employed as Kapellmeister at the Stuttgart court, encouraged him to write some music for a performance of Schiller's play at the court theatre. The result was his 1809 drama music for Turandot, in which the Chinese overture was integrated.

The present version for string orchestra compresses the orchestral writing and adds some string-specific features (col legno, pizzicato) using a solo violin and a solo cello..

The work probably goes back to the four-part poem Märchenbilder, which the Berlin poet Louis du Rieux sent to Schumann on February 19, 1851, asking him to choose the verses as a model for a "sonata". Schumann's response was positive. The composition was written shortly afterwards, between March 1 and 4, 1851
The premiere took place on November 12, 1853 as part of a soiree given by Clara Schumann in the hall of the hotel "Zum goldenen Stern" on Bonn's Marktplatz. The viola part was played by Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski, the dedicatee of the work and later Schumann's biographer.
The cycle, consisting of four lyrical character pieces, is one of the few original compositions for viola and piano. Here is a version for viola and string orchestra in the original keys.