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Re: Mozart quintett for basset clarinet

Author: cigleris
Date: 2009-12-21 11:09

Dear John,

There are a few bits of evidence dotted around from 1790. These are articles that talk about the basset clarinet and its invention by Lotz and all point to November 1790 as the time when the fully chromatic basset clarinet was operational. Lotz died in 1792 and Stadler then claimed the instrument as his but there is no evidence to suggest that he was also an instrument maker.

The Quintet was written in September of 1789 so one can assume that Stadler would have had a working instrument of some kind if albeit diatonic.

I wasn't until the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe that was published in the 1950s that scholars began to show that there was evidence with in the piece that it was intended for basset clarinet. I believe the discovery of the Quintet fragment for Bb basset clarinet re-affirmed the idea as the solo part clearly uses the basset range. This was written also around 1789.

By studying the Quintet score and the way in which the solo part has been altered we can see that there are instances were basset notes would be more suited for the flow of the line and the overall contours of the particular passage, especially those of the first and last movements. It might be reasonable to suggest that the basset clarinet made use of the Eb, D and C like in various Lotz basset horns of the time. With the fully chromatic instrument coming early the following year.

I hope that helps you

Peter Cigleris

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