Quintet in A Major, K. 581 – Clarinet (Basset Clarinet) and String Quartet

Description

Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet was composed and first performed in 1789. The manuscript is thoughtto have disappeared during the early 1800s. Two different publishers issued it in 1802, although one of the versionsmay date from 1801. It is unclear which version was actually first, butthe one with the smallest number of markings, issued in Vienna, is often presumed to be first.Because Anton Stadler, for whom Mozart wrote the Quintet, owned an extended low range basset clarinet,the clarinet part in the manuscript score may have reflected this fact. Since the manuscript is missing, editorial attempts to reconstruct a basset clarinet part must be considered conjectural. However, Werner Breig, editor of the Breitkopf edition (KM2289), has done precisely this and his set of parts includes two options, one for standard clarinet in A and one for basset clarinet in A. The Breitkopf edition was first issuedin 2005 and reflects the Urtext editorial approach, so a number of articulation markings will have to be added by the teacher or player. This set includes a score as well as the parts.See Also:Complete String Quintets with the Horn and Clarinet Quintets, Dover full score, our number 23603XAllegro in B-flat for Clarinet and String Quartet, K. Anh. 91 (516c), our number NMA221Quintet Movement in F for Clarinet, Basset Horn, and String Trio, K. Anh. 90, our number GM787