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Mozart-Clarinet Quintet

  Mozart loved the Clarinet, which was invented during his lifetime.  Many of his Symphonies and Piano Concertos exist in versions with and without clarinets, because the instrument was so new that many orchestras of the time didn’t have players.

  Mozart wrote his three works featuring the instrument for one of his friends and drinking buddies.  The guy actually played a basset clarinet, which has an ugly looking appendage that is cumbersome to hold and completely spoils the looks of the elegant clarinet that we know.  It fell out of favor but importantly for Mozart’s pieces, it could go an octave lower than the traditional instrument.  The Basset Clarinet was resurrected by the Historically Informed crowd, and many passages that sound awkward on regular clarinets suddenly make sense on the basset.

  The Quintet shows Mozart’s love of instrumental color.  He frequently mutes the strings and has the clarinet playing ghostly harmonies against ethereal strings.  Those passages alternate with sprightly dance like passages.  I love this piece and it is one of the most popular chamber music works.

  My first recording featured Harold Wright, former Boston SO Principal, with assorted greats from the Marlboro Festival in Vermont.  My second and all time favorite is the Academy of Ancient Music Chamber Music Players.  I have several others and in general I prefer the ones with the Basset Clarinet.  
  Also check out the. Mozart Clarinet Concerto and the Skittles Trio

mahler123
frogman
7,364 posts
 

The two makers mentioned use the Boehm (French) fingering system for their basset clarinets. To that list we can add Selmer, Backun and Stephen Fox. Modern makers using the German system include Wurlitzer and Leitner & Kraus. These makers make modern versions of basset (and others) clarinets.  These instruments are not modern “historical” instruments which replicate clarinets as existed in Mozart’s time. Soren Green is one maker that makes true historical instruments which use the same (or similar) designs as what existed centuries ago.

 

mahler123 OP
3,064 posts
 

@goofyfoot 

 

I realize that the market for SACD, which was pretty much the Classical Music Industry only, is collapsing, and can't blame Pentatone for shifting, but they and BIS were the two stalwarts of SACD

goofyfoot
1,325 posts
 

@frogman Thanks for the link! Those appear to be some wonderful instruments, I wouldn't mind owning a few myself.

@mahler123 Yes, both BIS and Pentatone were early with their releases on SACD. I've never owned a good disc player much less an SACD player so I've never  heard the SACD layer of those. Pentatone is now invested in DSD downloads. The Julia Fischer Schubert Violin Sonatas are available as DSD. I also believe there to be a fair amount of works for clarinet and woodwinds in general via DSD.

frogman
7,364 posts
 

Another great example of Mozart’s genius and arguably (not really, imo) the greatest work for winds ever composed is his Serenade No. 10 “Gran Partita”.  It is believed to have been composed, like his Clarinet Quintet, for his clarinetist friend Anton Stadler; or, more specifically, for a wind ensemble that Stadler was a member of.  As mahler123 points out, Mozart was a lover of instrumental color and I can think of no better example of this.  Particularly interesting to me is Mozart’s use of basset horns to bridge the range gap between the clarinets and the bassoons.   

 


 

 

frogman
7,364 posts
 

On the subject of historical instruments and a fascinating comparison of instrumental color between the modern instruments used in the above Mackeras/Orchestra of St. Luke’s and this by Zefiro Ensemble:

 

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