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Re: Mozart Clarinet Concerto Sheet Music/Arrangements

Author: Jack Kissinger  Date:   2013-09-03 03:52 As background for your project, I think you might find this interesting reading: http://www.tishkoff.com/articles/mozart.htm Because, as Tishkoff points out, there is no manuscript for the Mozart concerto, it's difficult to say which edition is "valid." There is a paper that was published in the "Clarinet" (the journal of the International Clarinet Association), that compares different published editions with regard to articulation, dynamics and, in some cases, notes chosen for passages. If you search around, you may be able to find that. It will perhaps give a hint of which editions include the fewest editorial adjustments. However, for your purposes, the version included in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe might be fine. With a little effort, you can find a pdf version of the score here: http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/start.php?l=2 (I don't intend to do all your work for you. .) Short of asking Martin Frost which edition he uses/used in his recording, you probably won't be able to tell. Mozart would have expected performers to add ornamentation to their performances in accordance with the style of his time and, as I recall, Frost adds some, which are of his own devising. As a result, what you hear him playing probably will not correspond entirely to any published edition. BTW, available recordings differ in the extent to which the performer has improvised these embellishments. For example, Robert Marcellus doesn't add any. Richard Stoltzman adds a few. Michael Wight ornaments extensively. In analyzing Frost's performance, you could comment on the extent to which he embellishes and any tendencies he displays. To be technically correct, there are no cadenzas in the Mozart concerto in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, there are some places where Mozart invites the performer to improvise a brief eingang (entrance or lead-in). The one that is probably most familiar to clarinetists is in the second movement, and this is often mistakenly referred to as a cadenza. There are however, a couple of others in the first movement. While there are a number of published "cadenzas" for the second movement (if, memory serves, several of the more popular ones are included in the Southern Music edition), many performers settle on their own. The Peruvian clarinet site, Clariperu, has an interesting compilation transcribed from a number of popular recordings. You can find this compilation here: http://www.clariperu.org/Cadencias_concierto_Mozart.html Martin Frost's is included, BTW. An interesting question for you to address might be whether you think his version is consistent with performance practices of Mozart's time. If so, you could explain how/why. If not, you could explain why not and perhaps point to other performers whose choices are more in line with what Mozart would have expected. Well, I hope this helps you get started. Two important points to remember: (1) there is no "official"version of the concerto because the manuscript has been lost. (The basset horn version that Tishkoff refers to is only a fragment, aka the "Winterthur Fragment.") and (2) there are no cadenzas in this concerto -- what Mozart intended is quite different. Best regards, jnk Edit: BTW, even though the concerto is in the public domain, not all editions (e.g., the Neue Mozart Ausgabe) of it will be. In an academic paper, even if something is public domain, if it is not "common knowledge" it's a good idea to use a citation. You don't want your teacher/professor to think you are trying to pass off someone else's ideas as your own. As a result, when in doubt, cite. Post Edited (2013-09-03 03:59)

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