Concerto for Clarinet, K622

From Wind Repertory Project
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (trans. Robert Rumbelow)


General Info

Year: 1791 / 1997
Duration: c. 29:30
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - Rental   |   Score Only (print) - $50.00


Movements

1. Allegro - 12:20
2. Adagio - 7:05
3. Rondo - 8:45


Instrumentation

Full Score
Solo A Soprano Clarinet or Basset Clarinet
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
Trumpet in C I-II
Horn in F I-II
Double Bass
Timpani


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s death two months after completing this concerto left it as his final piece for orchestral instruments, and a testament to a longstanding friendship. Both it and his earlier Clarinet Quintet in A, K 581 (1789) were written to celebrate the genius of the virtuoso clarinetist Anton Stadler (1753-1812).

Part of the appeal of the clarinet is the diversity of sound quality it can produce in its different registers. The lowest notes have the warm, rich quality of a smooth and sophisticated baritone. The middle range gives the cool, deliciously smoky effect of a gifted torch singer, while the top register is as clear and bright as a coloratura soprano. The clarinet’s distinctive sound can communicate high mirth at one moment and melancholy the next. Mozart loved the instrument and was one of the first composers to include it in the standard orchestral configuration of his symphonic works.

It was Anton Stadler, however, who inspired Mozart to think of the clarinet as more than merely a voice in the texture of orchestral sound. Stadler and his younger brother Johann were members of the Viennese imperial court orchestra and of the Kaiser’s wind octet, where Anton Stadler reportedly played second clarinet. As a fairly new instrument, the clarinet was still undergoing modifications, and it may have been his experience as second clarinet that prompted Stadler to experiment with extending the instrument’s lower, or chalumeau, register through the addition of length and several keys. The resulting instrument was called a basset clarinet, or basset horn. Mozart composed basset horn music early as 1783, and Stadler’s first performance of a Mozart work featuring basset horn took place in 1784. Although Mozart’s family disapproved of Stadler, Mozart himself enjoyed Stadler’s lighthearted nature and greatly admired the clarinetist’s artistry. By 1785, they were members of the same Masonic Lodge, and close friends as well as musical colleagues.

- Program Note by San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra concert program, 19 March 2011


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • New England Conservatory (Boston, Mass.) Wind Ensemble (Charles Peltz, conductor; Dillon Acey, clarinet) - 18 April 2023
  • Washington and Lee University (Lexington, Va.) Wind Ensemble (Christopher Dobbins, conductor; Carissa Petzold, clarinet) - 5 April 2021
  • Marion (Mass.) Concert Band (Tobias Monte, conductor; Daniel Moniz, clarinet) - 24 August 2018
  • Le Mars (Iowa) Municipal Band (Jerry Bertrand, conductor; Lee Schneider, clarinet) - 27 June 2018
  • Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew Holzman, conductor; Christopher Rueda, clarinet) – 3 April 2017
  • Wheaton College Symphonic Band (Timothy Yontz, conductor) - 13 November 2015
  • San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra (William V. Johnson, conductor; Brian Hermanson, clarinet) - 19 March 2011


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources