Mozart Clarinet Concerto In A - Help!, Why was the lateness of his composition so important? Options

[JuliaR]

Hello!

I'm currently doing a project on Mozart's clarinet concerto in A for school and I have a tricky question that so far I can't find the answer to.

I have to discuss the concerto in relation to the lateness of his compositional output but I can't find any information on this.

There is a book, Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, which has been unavailable from my library for quite some time, but I managed to find some excerpts on the internet on Google Book Search.

The book description says "Mozart's Clarinet Concerto is of supreme importance as his last instrumental work" but it doesn't elaborate as to why! Gah.

So if anyone out there can help me with why its being written towards the end of his compositional output is significant, I would be incredibly appreciative!



Thanks!!

[petrat]

Hi Julia,
I am not a clarinet player but do know that this work was written for the basset clarinet originally, and included some low notes not found on the modern instrument. I don't think that the original manuscript is still in existence so it involves a little guesswork as to which passages have been altered to fit the more usual clarinet. I am sure that you know that the orchestral clarinet was a new instrument in Mozart's day (It as Mozart who introduced the clarinet into the symphony orchestra.) and that he wrote it for a player called Anton Stadler. It is a late work but poor Mozart was so young when he died that this seems a curious term to use in some ways, although it shows the great maturity that he had gained by this time. The piece shows his love and deep understanding for the instrument, something often found in the work of a really great composer and musician. He seemed to know instinctively what would work! It is not a particularly showy concerto but I wonder if the limitations of the early instrument have any bearing on this. A clarinet expert will be able to comment further I am sure. What it does show is the beautiful interaction between the solo instrument and the orchestra, and this wasn't typical in Mozart's day. Concerti were used as a showcase for the players and also to show off the skills of the instrument makers. "Look what MY instrument can do" sort of stuff! I had thought that this may have been the reason why Mozart wrote the concerto for the deeper instrument, but I do not know. I will stop waffling now and hope that some of the clarinet players here will add lots more for you. Good luck with your essay.

[angie]

Don't know if this is any good, but it hints at the ideas you are looking for.

The general use of the clarinet as a virtuoso solo instrument came much later than that of its woodwind companions, the flute and the oboe. The composers of the Mannheim school were the first to use it in orchestras, and they also composed the first concertos for the instrument. As well as this group, Mozart chose the clarinet as a solo instrument, not only in some of his symphonies and wind divertimentos but also for two chamber works and one concerto. He was inspired in this by his dissolute friend, Anton Stadler, the famous 18th century clarinet virtuoso. After his wonderful clarinet quintet and before the Requiem, two months before his death, he completed the Stadler Rondo, the last movement of the clarinet concerto written for his friend. This was his last instrumental work.

Every movement of the clarinet concerto makes characteristic use of the clarinet's inherent solo potential. Indeed, almost throughout the opening movement the leading role is taken by the clarinet either playing the dolce, an agile accompaniment or virtuoso cadenzas. The opening subject of the Adagio in humn-like and intimate, setting the tone for the whole movement. At the same time in its somewhat resigned melodies of the festive, sage world of Sarastro it is reminiscent of the Magic Flute. The third movement reminds one of the colourful rondo finales of the earlier Vienese piano concertos. Here, Mozart also exploits the vast possibilities of contrast between the solo - the concertino - and the full orchestra, even in the cariations of the lilting 6/8 rondo theme. The galliard like dance, the monore siciliano melodies and the rhythmic folk dance type *landler* are united into a glorious whole, in the same way as the singing and lyrical, tespestuous and framatic, playful and opera buffa sections. As well as being the companion piece to Mozart's last piano concertos and quintets the clarinet concerto sets an example for a whole era in this field of composition.

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