Classical Music 3/46

At that time the clarinet was in a completely different guise than today's, which was only reached in the middle of the 19th century. Nevertheless, Mozart was able to make optimal use of this instrument by drawing original and expressive sounds. The concerto is regarded as one of his best works and is of fundamental importance for clarinet lovers and clarinetists. It was originally composed for Bassettos Horn, an instrument close to Mozart's heart, which he almost always included in his chamber music works and in any case as a soloist: Of the first version, only a well-developed fragment of the only first movement has survived, along with some very incomplete sketches of the second and top movements. The accompanying ensemble is chamber music: oboes, trumpets and trombones are excluded whose timbre could have competed with that of the solo instrument[1]. The clarinet expresses itself with melodies that are sometimes soft, sometimes dramatic, but the tone is always calm. Of the three movements that make up the concerto, the proverb is that in which the melody touches the highest peaks and reaches moments of intimacy and moving melancholy.