How I Met Mozart

Featuring

Pierre Génisson
David Chan
Catherine Ro
Dov Scheindlin
Rafael Figueroa
Quartet 212

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Carl Maria von Weber

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart married Constance Weber, making him a cousin-in-law to Carl Maria von Weber, both composers featured on this album.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Unlike Mozart, who balanced the clarinet soloist equally with the strings, Weber aimed to create a 'pocket concerto' with his Clarinet Quintet, focusing on the clarinet as a virtuosic protagonist.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Mozart, Weber, and Brahms each composed significant works for the clarinet, inspired by exceptional clarinetists of their time.

Instruments

Mozart specifically composed his Clarinet Quintet for Anton Stadler's basset clarinet in A, an instrument with an extended low register that was not commonly used by most clarinetists of the era.

Compositional Technique

Mozart was the first great composer to write for the combination of clarinet and string quartet, a format later adopted by Weber and Brahms.

Composition History

Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581, was completed on September 29, 1789, and likely premiered in Vienna on December 22 of the same year with Anton Stadler on clarinet and Mozart himself on viola.

Composition History

Carl Maria von Weber's Clarinet Quintet in B flat, Op. 34, took over four years to compose, starting in September 1811 and completed just before its premiere on August 24, 1815.