Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622

One of the members of the party that accompanied Mozart on his first visit to Prague in January 1787 was his friend Anton Stadler, for whom he was to write the Clarinet Quintet in 1789 and the Clarinet Concerto two years later. No ordinary instrumentalist, Stadler had designed a clarinet with an extension which added two whole tones to the bottom register of the standard instrument. Although it was for the extended instrument that Mozart wrote the two works, they were both first published in versions for standard clarinet and, having achieved their popularity in that form, that is how they are usually performed today.

The essential colouring of the Concerto - the contrast between, on the one hand, the bright soprano register in which the clarinet first presents the main themes and, on the other hand, the darker lower register in which it develops them - is more effectively registered on the extended clarinet but the difference is marginal. The area where Mozart’s affection for the clarinet’s lower register shows through most clearly is in the middle section of the Adagio. In contrast to the chaste melodic beauty it displays in the opening section, it adopts a more seductive role applying darker and stronger colours to a sensuously winding line. The expressive intention of the final Rondo is quite different, of course. Mozart doesn’t so much dwell on the darker colours as touch on them at one end or the other of the of flying arpeggios and athletic leaps of a generally (though not exclusively) carefree solo part.

Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622 (400)

Allegro; Adagio; Rondo: allegro

Behind most great concertos there is a great instrumentalist. Anton Stadler meant more to Mozart, however, than his extraordinary ability on clarinet and basset-horn. Clarinet and basset-horn sounds were closely associated with ceremonies at the masonic lodges of Vienna, where Mozart and Stadler and several other exponents of the basset-horn were brother members. Another thing about Stadler was that he had designed a clarinet with an extension which added two whole tones to the bottom register of the standard instrument.

It was for this extended clarinet that Mozart wrote his Clarinet Quintet, K.581, in 1789 and his Clarinet Concerto, K.622, in 1791 - parts of the first movement of the latter deriving, interestingly, from sketches for an abandoned concerto for basset horn. But it was in the traditional version for standard clarinet, first published some years after the composer’s death, that the Clarinet Concerto established its status as one of the greatest works of its kind. The essential colouring of the work - the contrast between, on the one hand, the bright soprano register in which the clarinet first presents the main theme and, on the other hand, the darker lower register in which it develops them - is more effectively registered on the extended clarinet but the difference is marginal. An early example, highly effective in both version, is the soloist’s treatment of the slightly melancholy second subject of the first movement, which is introduced in the soprano register and later developed in a lugubrious baritone.

The area where Mozart’s affection for the clarinet’s lower register shows through most clearly is in the middle section of the Adagio. In contrast to the chaste melodic beauty it displays in the opening section, it adopts a more seductive role applying darker and stronger colours to a sensuously chromatic line.

The expressive intention of the final Rondo is quite different, of course. Mozart doesn’t so much dwell on the darker colours as touch on them at one end or the other of the of flying arpeggios and athletic leaps. It isn’t uniformly cheerful, however. The central episode begins in F sharp minor, the clarinet carrying the new melody in its soprano register but then using its darker colours to provoke a thoughtful development before the rondo theme appears for the last time and re-establishes the carefree atmosphere.

Behind nearly every great concerto there is a great instrumentalist. There was more, however, to Anton Stadler’s influence on Mozart this his extraordinary ability on clarinet and basset-horn. Clarinet and basset-horn sounds - particularly the dark colours at the lower end of the range, as we know from the Masonic Funeral Music, K.477 - were closely associated with ceremonies at the masonic lodges of Vienna, where Mozart and Stadler and several other exponents of the basset-horn were brother members. Another thing about Stadler was that he had designed a clarinet with an extension which added two whole tones to the bottom register of the standard instrument.

It was for this extended clarinet that Mozart wrote his Clarinet Quintet, K.581, in 1789 and his Clarinet Concerto, K.622, in 1791 - parts of the first movement of the latter deriving, interestingly, from sketches for an abandoned concerto for basset horn. The original solo parts are lost and, like Stadler’s extended clarinet (or basset clarinet as it is now called), have had to be reconstructed for authentic modern performances. Of course, it was in the traditional version for standard clarinet, first published some years after the composer’s death, that the Clarinet Concerto established its status as one of the greatest works of its kind. But in the original version, which requires no awkward upward transposition of the lowest notes of Stadler’s range, the essential colouring of the work - the contrast between, on the one hand, the bright soprano register in which the clarinet first presents the main theme and, on the other hand, the darker lower register in which it develops them - is so much more effectively registered. An early example is the soloist’s treatment of the slightly melancholy second subject of the first movement, which is introduced in the soprano register and later developed in a lugubrious baritone.

The area where Mozart’s affection for the clarinet’s lower register shows through most clearly is in the middle section of the Adagio. In contrast to the chaste melodic beauty it displays in the opening section, it adopts a more seductive role applying darker and stronger colours to a sensuously chromatic line.

The expressive intention of the final Rondo is quite different, of course. Mozart doesn’t so much dwell on the darker colours as touch on them at one end or the other of the of flying arpeggios and athletic leaps. It isn’t uniformly cheerful, however. The central episode begins in F sharp minor, the clarinet carrying the new melody in its soprano register but then using its darker colours to provoke a thoughtful development before the rondo theme appears for the last time and re-establishes the carefree atmosphere.