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• 1 2026-02-12T17:16:01+00:00 Compositions 26 Catalogue of original compositions by Carl Baermann visual_path 4390 2026-03-20T08:39:12+00:00

  Overview

  Carl Baermann was an accomplished composer whose music was highly regarded and widely performed during his lifetime. The surviving works listed here consist primarily of music for clarinet and piano, and clarinet with orchestra. However, Baermann was also a prolific composer of vocal music: in a letter to Jähns in 1877, he refers to having composed 131 Lieder, of which 6 have been identified here. His correspondence also refers to a cello concerto, of which sadly only a sketched piano reduction has been identified; and an oboe concertino and other pieces for oboe, which are currently lost. 

  Dating

  It is difficult to ascertain exact dates of composition for most of Baermann’s works. For works with distinctive titles, some indication can be gained from records of performances at the Munich court, but as the concert listings rarely include opus numbers, it is difficult to disambiguate those with generic titles. Baermann’s use of opus numbers when referring to works in correspondence is also infrequent, which is frustrating for identifying the pieces he is referring to and also raises the question of the point at which opus numbers were assigned. It is clear, however, that he did intend his opus numbers do relate to chronology of composition: in a letter to Schott's of 8 March 1842, Baermann writes: “I wish for the opus number to appear as I have written it on each manuscript, as they were assigned that way intentionally—to see whether the later compositions are better than the earlier ones”. 

  Publication dates, particularly for the works published by Schott’s, should not be taken to indicate period of composition, due to the often very long delay between Baermann supplying scores to his publishers and their being issued. The inclusion of a completion date of 2 July 1843 on the manuscript of the Introduction and Rondo op. 36 suggests that all of the preceding works date from prior to 1843. The composition of the Vollständige Clarinett-Schule opp. 63 and 64 from c. 1855–7 offers another point of reference, suggesting that Baermann’s works in the range op. 37–57 date from the mid-1840s to the early-1850s. This aligns with a reference in the programme for a court Abonnement-concert on 1 January 1847 to Baermann performing a Concertstück ‘zum Erstenmale’, likely a reference to either the Concertstück in D minor op. 44, or Concertstück in E flat major op. 49.

  Missing works and unattributed opus numbers

  Baermann kept a catalogue of his works, which he had to reconstruct after it became lost during a relocation, and which is non longer extant. His opus numbers range up to at least op. 88, of which 40 are currently accounted for: out of those 40, 30 are currently available in their entirety, with the remaining 10 excerpted in vol. V of the Vollständige Clarinett-Schule. The excerpted works are mostly concertos, as well as the Fantasie Orientale op. 22, Geisterstunde op. 29, and Elegie op. 55.

  C. 1874 Baermann published a collection of four volumes containing 12 pieces for clarinet and piano, under the title Fantasiestücke und Lieder, op. 84–87. It is possible that these pieces, along with the many lost compositions for voice, may account for some of the unattributed opus numbers. He is also known to have re-worked pieces and assigned a new opus, as in the case of the Fantasie op. 7, reworked for two clarinets as the Duo Concertante op. 33.  The other likelihood is that some of the 38 accompanied studies included in the Clarinett-Schule were originally pre-existing standalone compositions with their own opus numbers: this is supported by the inclusion of the opening section of Ein Traum op. 47 under the guise of etude no. 34 in volume II. Furthermore, when Baermann initially proposed the Clarinet–Schule to Schott’s in a letter of 29 April 1856, he referred to the second volume containing ‘about 70 to 80 specially composed exercises, and about three pieces with piano accompaniment’; yet by the time he approached André in November of the same year, it had taken the form of two studies in each key with piano accompaniment, a significant increase in the amount of material needed. While his correspondence with André in 1856–7 makes it clear he was creating much material specifically for the school, it remains a strong possibility that more of the etudes in vol. II were based on already-existing concert pieces. 

  Baermann and his publishers

  Broadly speaking, Baermann’s earlier works published by B. Schott’s Söhnen in Mainz, his later works by Johan André in Offenbach-am-Main, and his editions by Robert Lineau in Berlin. Baermann’s side of his correspondance with Schott’s and André reveals much about his working practices, his relationship with both publishers and his wishes for the publications of his works. 

  Though Baermann’s father had had some correspondence with Schott’s in the 1830s, Baermann’ relationship with them appears to have been instigated by their approaching his colleague Joseph Faubel c. 1841, after Faubel performed one of Baermann’s works. Baermann responded to their Schott’s interest by offering them a range of smaller and larger works, many of which were gradually published over the subsequent years (letter of 3 June 1841).  Baermann’s letters also reveal his concern over the details of his scores, and in particular the wording of their title pages and dedications. Baermann’s letters showing him trying to maintain a good relationship with the firm despite the apparent laxity of Schott’s operations: he complains at various points that proof copies were riddled with errors, that dedications were left off title pages (causing him some embarrassment), and that he was not supplied with copies of his published works or even notified that they had come out. The delays between manuscripts being supplied and being published are also notable, amounting to years at a time: a situation that essentially held Baermann hostage, as he evidently did not routinely keep his own copies of works supplied to the publisher.

  Despite these issues, and receiving offers from publishing houses in Vienna and Leipzig, Baermann remained loyal to Schott's until 1856, even offering them the opportunity to publish his Clarinett-Schule. However, later the same year, he apparently finally gave up, approaching the firm of Johan André instead with the project, citing his ‘unpleasant experiences’ with his former publisher (letter of 22 November 1856).  Though Schott's continued issuing the works that Baermann had previously supplied to them well into the 1870s, his later compositions were published by André, who also published his editions of Mozart’s Concerto k. 622 and Quintet k. 581. Baermann’s relationship with André appears to have been a more positive one, as he continued publishing with them until the mid-1870s. 

  At some point in the 1870s, Baermann began working with a third publisher, Robert Lineau. Lineau had taken over Schlesinger, the house that had published the works of Weber, and it is probably this existing connection that led to Baermann’s own editions of Weber’s clarinet works were issued by the firm. No correspondence between Lineau and Baermann has so far been traced, so it is unknown who approached whom with the project. Baermann's correspondence with the Weber scholar Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns shows that Jähns often acted as a go-between and thus may have been involved in brokering the relationship. In an 1872 letter to Jähns, Baermann also refers to offering Lineau the scores clarinet pieces, his cello concerto and some of his songs, presumably in an effort to get them issued by the firm. In his letter to Jähns of 22 November 1877, Baermann reports that following the loss of his catalogue of works, he can no longer recall which songs were given to Lineau, and wants to avoid offering the same ones to another publisher by mistake, indicating that as late as 1877, he was still hoping to have more of them issued and presumably seeking a relationship with a new publishing house.

  A final reference in Baermann’s penultimate letter to Jähns of 16 June 1879 is somewhat of a conundrum: Baermann excuses his tardy reply, saying ‘your letter threw me into such a turmoil of musical work, as I had to prepare 9 pieces of music for the engraving’. It is unclear what the other scores might have been, and what role Jähns had in the process, though his involvement might indicate that Baermann was preparing publications for Lineau. However, the Hofmeister Monatsberichte does not list any new issues under Baermann’s name after June 1880.

  Sources and information

  The sources and information presented here draw on the database and holdings of the Schott-Archiv, the database of Répertoire Internationale des Sources Musicales (RISM), the Hofmeister Monatsberichte as represented by the Hofmeister XIX database, and the holdings of the Staatsbibliothek Berlin (D-B) and Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (D-Mbs), as well as other major libraries and collections. Digitised versions of manuscript and print sources are embedded or linked where available. The Schott-Archiv contains many of Baermann’s autograph manuscripts, which also acted as Stichvorlage or basis for engraving; Druckbücher, that is Schott’s own records of printing; and examples of the editions issued (n.b. many of those digitised appear to be later reprints with late-19th or early-20th century title pages). The archive of the André publishing firm is still held privately by the company and there are no public finding aids beyond the catalogue of publications, and it has not yet been possible to consult the holdings; however, letters from Baermann to André relating to the publication of the Vollständige Clarinett-Schule were previously transcribed in Erdt. The Schlesinger-Verlagsarchiv containing publishing catalogues and correspondence of Robert Lineau was acquired by the Staatsbibliothek Berlin in September 2024. It has not yet been ascertained whether it contains holdings relating to Baermann.

  For each work, the autograph sources are listed, alongside details of the publications instigated by Baermann. Where there is a discrepancy between the titles in the autograph and print sources, the published version is given. Publication dates are based on the Schott's Druckbücher for Schott's publications, plate numbers for André publications, and the Hofmeister Monatsberichte. Modern editions of Baermann’s works have not been included: for this information, please see the index of works prepared by Hill.

  The following works are referred to in letters and other sources but not otherwise traced:

  • A concertino for Oboe and further pieces for oboe (letters from Baermann to B. Schott's Sohne, of 3 June 1841 and 10 May 1844)
  • c. 125 further songs, in addition to the six currently identified
  • Three further concertos, listed in Baermann’s 1874 syllabus for his class at the Munich Hochschule, in addition to those accounted for in extant sources: a Concerto in F minor; a second Concerto in B flat, in addition to op. 48; and third Concerto in E flat, in addition to op. 26/62 and op. 60, which may however be a reference to the E flat major Concertstück op. 49.

  The following works are erroneously listed in other sources:

  • Bassoon Concerto op. 1: Listed on IMSLP, but clearly the work of Baermann’s uncle, the Prussian bassoonist Carl Baermann
  • Air Varié op. 12: Listed in Erdt, probably a mistaken reference to Heinrich Baermann’s Trois Airs Variés op. 12, published by Gambaro and Simrock
  • La Nuit Etoilée op. 13: Listed on IMSLP, an erroneous reference to op. 17
  • Quartet op. 18: Referenced in Weston, likely a mistaken reference to Heinrich Baermann’s Quartet op. 18
  • Concerto in E flat op. 23: listed in Erdt, likely a mistaken reference to Heinrich Baermann’s Concerto op. 23
  • Concerto in E flat op. 26 and op. 62: excerpts from these works are given sequentially in Clarinett-Schule vol. V. Given the similarity of the material they are evidently the same piece, with one of the opus numbers being a misprint of the other.