Mozart's Clarinet quintet in A major, K. 581 was written in 1789 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler. It was Mozart's only clarinet quintet, and one of the earliest, and best known works written specially for the instrument. It remains exceptionally popular today due to its lyrical melodies, with the second movement the best known. (For a list organized by genre, see List_of_compositions_by_Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart) The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A clarinetist (sometimes also spelled clarinettist) is a musician who plays the clarinet. ... Anton Stadler (1753 - 1812) was a clarinet and basset horn player for whom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote both his Quintet_for_Clarinet_and_Strings and Clarinet Concerto. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart; January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bb clarinet (left) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ...

The composer indicated that the work was finished on September 29th of 1789. This quintet is sometimes referred to as the Stadler Quintet; Mozart so described it in a letter of April 1790. September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ...

Structure

It consists of four movements: In music, a movement is a large division of a larger composition or musical form. ...

1. Allegro in A major and common time
2. Larghetto in D major and 3:4 time
3. Menuetto in A major and 3:4 time - Trio I in A minor - Trio II in A major
4. Allegretto con Variazioni in A major and common time

In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... A major is a major scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, and A. Its key signature consists of three sharps. ... The time signature (also known as meter signature) is a notational device used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each bar and what note value constitutes one beat. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... D major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F#, G, A, B, C# and D. Its key signature consists of two sharps. ... A minuet, sometimes spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two persons, usually in 3/4 time. ... Trio is generally used in any of the following ways: Three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument. ... A minor (abbreviated Am) is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, G and A (harmonic minor scale). ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ...

Third movement

The first trio of the third movement is for the strings alone, with a theme that has a signature acciaccatura every few notes. The second trio is a clarinet solo over the strings, whereas in the minuet the roles were distributed more evenly. In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to the overall melodic (or harmonic) line, but serve to decorate or ornament that line. ...

Fourth movement

The finale has five variations. The theme is in two repeated halves, with the clarinet joining in but only for a few of its bars. As often with Mozart, phrase structure is generally the same throughout the variations even if other qualities change- the theme consists of four four-bar phrases (Mozart is often more irregular in his phrasing than this), the first going harmonically from A to E, the second back from E to A, etc. ... and likewise with the variations.

The first of its variations gives the clarinet a new theme, in counterpoint with the theme of the variations divided amongst the quartet. The second alternates phrases for quartet only with phrases for full quintet, the latter answering the former. The third, in A minor, also begins without clarinet, with a viola melody- also with signature acciaccatura- but the clarinet joins in to finish. The major mode returns for the fourth variation, as does the main theme to the accompaniment of semiquaver virtuosity - given to the clarinet only in the first repeated half, first violin and clarinet in the second. There are four bars of dramatic interruption leading to a pause; the next variation is a lyrical Adagio. A transition brings us to an Allegro coda, containing much of a variation itself. Figure 1. ...

Analysis

There are a number of similarities between this quintet and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. Both are in the same key of A major for the same soloist, Anton Stadler. Both pieces are written for the basset clarinet which has an extended lower range. Also, the first theme of the first movement of each piece begins with a falling major third. Mozarts Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 was written in 1791 for the clarinettist Anton Stadler. ... A major is a major scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, and A. Its key signature consists of three sharps. ... Anton Stadler (1753 - 1812) was a clarinet and basset horn player for whom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote both his Quintet_for_Clarinet_and_Strings and Clarinet Concerto. ...

Mozart also wrote a trio for clarinet, viola and piano for Stadler, the so-called Kegelstatt Trio, in 1786. The Kegelstatt Trio (K. 498), also referred to as the Mozart Clarinet Trio in Eâ™­, is a classical composition for clarinet, viola, and piano by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1786. ...

Alfred Einstein (Mozart: His Character and Work, page 194) notes that while the clarinet "predominates as primus inter pares" (first amongst equals) this is nonetheless "chamber-music work of the finest kind" and the roles are distributed more equally than they would be in a more concertante quintet for wind and strings. Alfred Einstein (December 30, 1880–February 13, 1952), was a German-American musicologist and music editor. ...

Popular culture

To American audiences, the piece is probably best known from the final episode of M*A*S*H ("Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen"). In this episode, Dr. Winchester befriended a rag-tag bunch of Chinese musicians and taught them to play this piece. However, he later saw all the musicians killed and as a result, classical music, his number one solace during the war, became unpalatable to him. Inspired by the 1970 20th Century-Fox film M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) and based on the book of the same name, M*A*S*H was an American television series about a team of medical professionals and support staff stationed at the 4077th MASH in Korea... Major Charles Emerson Winchester III is a principal character on the television series, M*A*S*H, played by David Ogden Stiers. ...

References

Einstein, Alfred. translated by Mendel, A. and Broder, N. Mozart, his character, his work. Dover Publications paperback 1972 republication of 1945 Oxford University Press edition . ISBN 0486228592.

External links

• Student recording by Umesh Shankar
• Encarta article

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