I'm going to demur, and say that the first clarinets, made by Denner, appeared around 1700, 50 years or so before Mozart was born. I believe Vivaldi was the first composer to call for clarinets in a composition. Of course that Denner clarinet was pretty primitive and only had a couple of keys; various other makers and players had to work on its development over the course of the 18C to turn it into the kind of instrument capable of doing justice to the Mozart quintet, or for that matter the Kegelstatt trio or the concerto.
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
Showing 5 responses by twoleftears
@mahler123 Nice one! I was reacting to the statement in your first paragraph, and should really have paid more attention to what followed. Yes, Stadler was the friend of Mozart for whom he wrote the quintet and the concerto, though I gather that this variant--the basset clarinet--was created by one Theodor Lotz. Thea King's recording of the concerto may have been instrumental (no pun intended) in reviving interest in the basset clarinet among the historically-informed crowd. Me--many years ago I considered (but never did) picking up the chalumeau; the standard Bb model was enough of a handful. And I grew up listening to Jack Brymer (and some Benny Goodman!). Brymer with the LSO and Colin Davis is still very good. There's actually an almost infinite number of clarinet variants, starting with the piccolo clarinet, "regular" clarinets pitched in a whole variety of keys (no pun intended), Eb, D, C, Bb, A, G, of which Bb and A are the most common, the basset clarinet, the basset horn, the alto clarinet, the bass clarinet (which you come across sometimes in jazz), and various types of contrabass clarinet. Most, of course, are rare and very specialized. The next rabbit hole is the key system: the most basic divide is between Boehm and German, but there are many sub-variants and historical changes if you start digging. Enough to keep historically-minded musicologists very busy. |
The modern clarinet is usually thought of as having three registers, the chalumeau (with a more woody tone), the clarion (with a brighter tone), and the altissimo, which gets you into some serious harmonics. The "octave key" (which isn't actually an octave, it's more, though it is an octave on the saxophone) on the underside of the instrument gets you from the chalumeau to the clarion. |