Clarinet Concerto

Many of us can look back on an embarrassment foisted upon us by fond parents. At the age of six, I was dressed in a "Blood and Fire" jersey and given a drum to bang in time with the Salvation Army band. Compared with Mozart and his sister, Anna Maria, this was a minor indignity. Having already shown a remarkable gift for music, Mozart, aged six, and his slightly older sister were on the road touring the courts of Europe as a sort of circus act. Perhaps one should not blame Leopold, the children's father too much. Leopold, an established composer and performer, could hardly fail to recognise that he had brought into the world a genius. Times were hard for musicians and an opportunity to make money by showing off his talented children must have been overwhelming. But what an effect it must have had on their lives; Bavaria and Vienna in 1762 and London, Holland, Versailles, Switzerland and various other stops in an extended tour from 1763 to 1766. Returning home to Salzburg, the young Mozart was appointed Court Konzertmeister and given leave from his duties to travel to Italy but he and his father were eventually dismissed by the Archbishop of Salzburg for continued absence.

Leopold, having made some sort of peace with his employer, dared not accompany his son on a trip to Paris in 1777 and Wolfgang set out accompanied by his mother. The visit met with little success financially and, worse still, Mozart's mother died which profoundly affected the young man. The rest of Mozart's life was unsettled in spite of his increasing fame as a composer. Surrounded by a chaotic home life where only two of his six children survived infancy, constantly lacking funds, in debt and unemployed, Mozart produced one masterpiece after another until his death at the age of thirty-five.

The Clarinet Concerto, written in the last year of the composer’s life, touches a felicitous vein in the rich repository of Mozart's works. The original manuscript of the score does not survive and the only complete source is suspect in that the work has been transposed for the more usual Clarinet in A. Mozart wrote the original for the "basset" clarinet of his friend, Anton Stadler; the instrument had an extended lower joint which lowered the pitch by four semitones. The first movement, although certainly showing off the virtuosity of the clarinet, is melodically inspired and characterised by falling motifs giving a somewhat melancholy feel to the music. The slow movement, perfect in length and form, is a fine example of Mozart's rich melodic skills. The finale is an altogether happy affair; as ever, with Mozart, exquisitely poised and rewarding.