Events
Performers
Clarinet Quintet in A major K. 581
Mozart met the Viennese clarinettist Anton Stadler in 1782 and by 1784 the two men had joined the same Masonic Lodge. Their friendship was to influence much of Mozart’s later writing for the instrument, not just in the Masonic concepts of The Magic Flute but also in the extended solos for clarinet and bass clarinet in La Clemenza di Tito and in the undoubted late masterpieces that are the Clarinet Concerto K. 622 and the present Clarinet Quintet K. 581. At this time, the clarinet was a relative newcomer to symphonic music and Mozart originally wrote both the Quintet and the Concerto for the instrument known as a basset clarinet. The original performances would thus have been given on a somewhat different instrument than we know nowadays and it was the publication of the scores in the early 19th century that established the clarinet parts we recognise today, transposing some of the original music upwards.
Mozart’s masterpiece was composed at a time of financial and emotional difficulty. His father had died some two years previously, his wife had been constantly ill and Mozart’s reputation was for one or other reason, distinctly on the wane. Despite this state of despair, the Quintet is written in a sunny A major, the solo clarinet expressing a state of calm and peaceful resignation. The first performance was given at Vienna’s Burgtheater with Stadler as soloist.
The four movements are conventionally laid out. The opening Allegro is a dialogue for soloist and strings, followed by a lyrical slow movement (Larghetto), similar in feel to the later Clarinet Concerto, which gives way to a Menuetto with two Trios (the second being in the style of the Viennese Ländler - a sort of countryside precursor of the Waltz). Finally, a set of variations, led initially by the solo clarinet bring the work to its close.
Programme note by Dr David Doughty. © Brilliant Classics
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet K. 581
repertoire index
