This clarinet sonata was composed in 1894 for clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. This was an interesting time in Brahms’ life as he vowed he would retire from composing in 1890 but after he heard a performance of the Weber clarinet concerto no. 1 and the Mozart clarinet quintet he so admired the soloist that he felt he should come out of retirement and compose 2 clarinet sonatas for him. These were completed in 1894 and first performed in a private concert in September of that year. These 2 sonatas were the last chamber pieces he composed before his death.
