Klarinet Archive - Posting 000658.txt from 2003/04

From: Robert Howe <arehow@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re: Instrumentation of K622
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:39:54 -0400

on 4/17/03 4:15 PM, klarinet-digest-help@-----.org at
klarinet-digest-help@-----.org wrote:

> Stephanie,
>
> While you are correct to state that oboes are not used in K. 622, the
> reason behind that is simply because Mozart chose not to use them.
> Anyone who suggests a reason for Mozart's action is signing their
> speculation with Mozart's name.

True, but can we examine possible reasons? It's fun to speculate, and one
can learn by examining reasons, providing arguments and reading books.

The two keyed oboe of Mozart's day played terribly in 3 sharps. The one
keyed flute, rather well.

The oboe of Mozart's day played in the same central range as the clarinet,
although the clarinet goes much lower and somewhat higher. The flute,
playing higher (athough not so high as modern flutes) would be more distinct
than the oboe.

Look at how Mozart uses the flutes in this work. Never as soloists, only to
add luster to the violins. This buttresses the "stay out of the way"
argument.

> And if you find the argument that he didn't use them because they would
> have taken attention away from the solo clarinet (as was your
> recollection), you must ask yourself, in what way would they have taken
> attention away from the clarinet? Is the sound character of an oboe so
> penetrating and momentous that one's attention would immediately shift
> from the solo clarinet to the oboe if it were to play? It's an argument
> that's possible but hard to believe and impossible to prove.
>
I think this is backwards. The oboe of Mozart's day had less presence than
the 18th century clarinet. This seems wrong, however, although modern oboes
are rather pungent, performances on replicas of 18th century oboes give them
a rather mellow sound. One keyed flutes, however, playing a fifth or so
higher than the two keyed oboes, have more presence in A major than oboes
would.

> You would be safe to say that his choice of instrumentation was
> invariably a personal decision based on some inner voice telling him
> what sound character he wanted. And it also had to do with what
> instruments were available at that moment, a case that I don't think
> applied to K. 622. He was in Vienna and could have any instrument he
> chose. Perhaps Stadler told him that he was going to tour with the
> concerto and Mozart had to conceive of the possibility of a reduced
> orchestra in the boondocks.
Perhaps. We also know that, in general, the same musicians played
professional oboe and flute parts. Perhaps he used the same players on the
instrument that was best for the key.
>
> I point out that of all his piano concerti, only one has BOTH oboes and
> clarinets (K. 491) so maybe he thought that their simultaneous presence
> was not the musical sound he wanted to hear in a concerto. But this was
> not a man for whom instrumental sound was unimportant. He would have
> known exactly how to handle the oboe, had he included it.
> Dan
Amen Dan, Amen.
Robert Howe

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