Liebesfreud – Liebesleid from the Old Viennese dance tunes – for Clarinet in Bb and Piano

Alt Wiener Tanzweisen’ [Old Viennesse dance tunes] are pretty miniatures, vibrant and catchy (the second one with a slightly elegiac colouring), but all have melodic charm and musical elegance. And what Kreisler once said about his A minor string quartet equally applies to these miniatures: ‘It is my profession of allegiance to Vienna’. Fritz Kreisler himself liked to play them as encores and for many soloists they belonged and still do belong to the ‘musical icing’ which sweetens the end of a concert for the audience.