This romance for clarinet is an important work because it is the composer's first attempt at writing a concert piece with orchestra. Richard Strauss wrote it in 1879 for a fellow pupil. In a letter to Ludwig Thuille he remarked: 'I have been very industrious - maybe I have told you already - composing a romance in E flat major for clarinet and orchestra which has turned out quite well; the continuous theme turns after the cantilena into a 6-part orchestral fugato.'
