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46-407: His works include the following: Of special note may be the clarinet concerto (SmWV 501) he most probably wrote for Mozart's clarinetist Anton Stadler , because it was scored for the basset clarinet . Recordings of the work by Dieter Klöcker (on Novalis ) on "normal clarinet" and by Thea King (on Hyperion ) in a reconstructed version for basset clarinet by Michael Freyhan are available. In 2021

92-416: A 'half thing'), as well as an understanding of the psychology of performance. He also has wise words on how to behave in the profession, suggesting instrumentalists 'not to drown out singers, not hold back or press forward in tempo, not publicly censure another's chance mistake, nor ridicule their colleagues'. A list of repertoire and theoretical texts is found at the end of the document, and includes mention of

138-417: A clarinet concerto, very probably for Anton Stadler, a fine three-movement work with a full orchestra complete with Harmonie (including clarinets), trumpets and timpani, in which the tutti sections demonstrate Eybler's fine compositional technique. In the concerto manuscript, two versions of the solo part are written on separate staves: they vary in their technical demands and it seems a player may have found

184-413: A clarinet could be capable of imitating the human voice as it was imitated by you. Indeed, your instrument has so soft and lovely a tone that no one can resist it – and I have one, dear Virtuoso; let me thank you. I heard music for wind instruments today, too, by Herr Mozart, in four movements, viz. four horns, two oboes, two bassoons, two clarinets, two basset horns, a double bass, and at each instrument sat

230-526: A completion appropriate for period basset clarinet was published by Craig Hill. Books Articles Editions Anton Stadler Anton Paul Stadler (28 June 1753, in Bruck an der Leitha – 15 June 1812, in Vienna ) was an Austrian clarinet and basset horn player for whom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote, amongst others, both his Clarinet Quintet (K 581) and Clarinet Concerto (K 622). Stadler's name

276-412: A forthcoming method for the clarinet, to be written by Stadler himself. The Musick Plan serves to habilitate Stadler's reputation, at least partially. After his four-year tour he left his wife for a young seamstress, Friederika Kabel, with whom he remained for the rest of his life. No doubt he spent money irresponsibly and continued to incur debts. He died of emaciation and was buried on 17 June 1812 on

322-405: A letter from Constanze to the publisher Johann André suggests that she and others held no high opinion of him. Furthermore, although Theodor Lotz made Stadler's basset clarinets (see below), Stadler later attributed their invention to himself, taking advantage of Lotz's premature death in 1792, only six months after Mozart's. Stadler never paid for the instruments, nor for K 622, which Nissen claims

368-452: A letter to Constanze from October 1791 Mozart writes of completing the final movement of K 622 ('Stadler's Rondo') and Stadler set out on a concert tour that lasted about four years, during which time he visited at least nine cities, performing more than a dozen times: Making use of his status as a Royal Imperial Court Musician from Vienna he presumably also gave lessons. Reviews of Stadler's playing are generally flattering, such as comments in

414-588: A master – oh, what a glorious effect it made – glorious and great, excellent and sublime! Schink here clearly refers to a performance of Mozart's Serenade for thirteen instruments K 361/370a , which probably formed part of Stadler's benefit concert at the National Court Theatre advertised in the Wienerblättchen of 22 March 1784: "Herr Stadler senior, in present service of His Majesty the Emperor, will hold

460-760: A musical concert for his own benefit, at which will be given, among other well chosen pieces, a great wind piece of a very special kind composed by Herr Mozart." Barely more than a week after this first documented performance came the première of Mozart's Piano Quintet K 452 on 1 April, which included parts for both composer and clarinettist. The arrival in Vienna of the Bohemian players Anton David and Vincent Springer proved an important catalyst for Mozart's basset horn writing. They had already generated considerable publicity as early as 1782, when their performance at Ludwigslust 'on largely unknown instruments which they call basset horns'

506-412: A number of works have so far been identified, including Variations on different favourite themes and ten variations on You must not take amiss with me . A possible candidate for the other clarinet work might be another of Stadler's compositions, or perhaps a B-flat major Concerto attributed to Joseph Michl. The "two more tones than the normal clarinet [the compass of which ends at low e ]" mentioned in

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552-515: A position in the Wallerstein orchestra (6 November 1781), Anton himself writes that they 'can also play a little violin and viol'. In the same letter he stated that both he and his brother 'could supplement orchestral skills with duets, concertos, wind octets and basset horn trios', the latter together with Raymund Griesbacher. A concert on 21 March 1773 at the Kärntnertortheater, of which

598-437: A programme survived, appears to mark the first public appearance of the two brothers in Vienna; further recorded appearances include a concert on 19 December 1775 and two concerts (12 and 14 March 1780) in which they took part in a concerto for five winds by Joseph Starzer. Pamela Poulin writes: Until 1782 Anton and Johann held various positions. According to the open account books of the imperial court of 1779 they were hired by

644-553: Is a minuet featuring two contrasting trio sections. The minuet section is in B flat major and uses all the instruments extensively. The first trio is in E-flat major and employs only the clarinets and basset horns. This section leads into a repeat of the minuet section. The second trio section is in the relative minor , G minor , and extensively uses the solo oboe, basset horn and bassoon. Described by Goodwin as "virtually an 'operatic' ensemble of passionate feeling and sensuous warmth",

690-399: Is an Allegretto section between them, which is in C minor and features constant pulse in the bassoons. The sixth movement is a set of six variations on an Andante theme in B flat major. The theme is presented primarily by the solo clarinet. The variations make use of various rhythmic motives and often feature solo instruments; for example, the first variation features the solo oboe. Unlike

736-484: Is inextricably linked to Mozart's compositions for these two instruments. Stadler was born in 1753 in a small town near Vienna; in 1756 his family moved into the city where his brother Johann was born. Even though both became famous as clarinet and basset horn players, the Journal des Luxus und der Moden described Anton in 1801 as 'a great artist on many wind instruments', and in a letter to Ignatz von Beecke, applying for

782-515: Is often known by the subtitle Gran Partita , though the title is a misspelling and not in Mozart's hand. It consists of seven movements . Some prominent authorities ( Köchel , Tyson , and Dexter Edge ) show that the paper and watermarks of this work prove a composition date of 1781. That the work was specially composed for a public concert given by Anton Stadler on March 23, 1784, is less likely, because this performance has no proven connection with

828-560: Is preserved in the National Hungarian Library in Budapest). The document, based on a set of questions provided by the count, recommends a rigorous education, combining performance, music theory and composition with schooling in a broad range of subjects. Examples of Stadler's priorities include study of the violin, singing and piano (also requiring students to learn to tune a piano), a 'general education' (because otherwise one becomes

874-459: Is sometimes replaced by a contrabassoon . Mozart's Harmoniemusik , including K. 361, shows his interest in texture through his use of unique combinations of instruments for the era, scoring, rhythm and articulation. The serenade is in seven movements as follows: The opening movement begins with a slow introduction in B flat major in which tutti syncopated rhythms are set in opposition to solo passages for clarinet and oboe. This leads into

920-427: The parallel minor , B-flat minor . After the minuet section is repeated, the second trio is played. This section is in F major and is largely legato . The fifth movement, labeled Romanze , returns to the slow tempo and E flat major tonality of the third movement. The movement begins and ends with an Adagio section in the tonic and in triple meter with many long notes in the melody. Contrasting with these sections

966-459: The Allegro moderato, which is a monothematic sonata form . The first theme of the exposition opens, originally presented in B flat major in the clarinets, later returns in F major in the basset horns and oboes in a modified form as the second theme. This theme continues to be explored in the development and returns in the recapitulation , this time in B flat major both times. The second movement

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1012-530: The Berlin Musikalisches Wochenblatt of 1792, where he is described as 'brilliant and accomplished; he also has acquired a precision which shows his confidence'. By 1796 Stadler had returned to Vienna, taking up his post alongside his brother, and starting composing works for basset horn and clarinet, a number of which were published. In 1798 the Viennese composer Joseph Leopold Eybler complete

1058-518: The Hon. Brother Locz [ sic ] will play the great octave bassoon'; Stadler's Partita is no longer extant. Significantly, Mozart wrote nothing further for the basset horn after this concert until 1788, when he produced a piano concerto fragment (K 537b) and the Canzonetta K 549. Mozart's Clarinet Trio K 498 was written for the pianist Francesca von Jacquin and must have been first played at the family house, with

1104-593: The Palm Tree and Three Eagles lodges of the Viennese Masonic order, and on 17 November Mozart's most important piece of Masonic music, the Maurerische Trauermusik K 477/479a, was performed during a Lodge of Sorrows for the deaths of two Brothers, Georg August, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and Franz, Count Esterhazy of Galántha. For this piece Mozart used an extraordinary and fortuitous collection of musicians:

1150-400: The autograph of K. 361 were ever intended for anything other than K. 361, and it is clear from the pattern of paper-usage that K. 361 was the principal project for which Mozart acquired that paper-type. The documentary history also shows that there is an unequivocal reference to wind-band music in Vienna in 1781. The performance of only four movements in 1784 generated the belief that the work

1196-534: The chalumeau register is significant in view of Mozart's subsequent exploitation of its idiomatic potential. The earliest documented evidence of Mozart's connection with Stadler dates from a year or two later. The clarinetist's playing evoked the following response in Johann Friedrich Schink's Litterarische Fragmente : My thanks to you, brave virtuoso! I have never heard the like of what you contrived with your instrument. Never should I have thought that

1242-553: The clarinet part was probably intended for Stadler and the contrabassoon part for Theodor Lotz. The initial scoring also included a single basset horn, but two more were added by Mozart, presumably to allow the participation of David and Springer. Stadler and Mozart appeared again at another benefit concert for the Bohemian pair at the Crowned Hope Lodge on 15 December 1785, for which the items included 'A Parthie [suite] composed by Brother Stadler for six wind instruments, for which

1288-410: The clarinettist reveals a shared sense of humour; 'Notschibinitschibi' is a combination of two words – 'Notschibi' meaning a poor booby or miser and 'Nitschibi' a young man of follies. Still, much evidence remains to show that Stadler was at best irresponsible, and at worst, conniving. Constanze Mozart 's sister, Sophie Haibel , recounted to Georg Nikolaus von Nissen how Stadler stole from Mozart, and

1334-477: The concert programme can, however, not easily be unambiguously identified. The Lotz basset clarinet must be associated with Mozart's Quintet fragment in B-flat K 516c, 93 bars of a movement which in 1828 Nissen believed to have been originally complete. Basset notes occur only from bar 55, d then occurring 7 times, occasioning notation in the bass clef an octave below pitch, as in Mozart's basset horn writing. Similarly,

1380-470: The court instrument maker Theodor Loz [ sic ]; this instrument has two more tones than the normal clarinet. Stadler's instrument is now known as a basset clarinet , a term coined by Jiři Kratochvil to reflect its kinship with the basset horn and to avoid confusion with the bass clarinet , whose orchestral career developed only during the 19th century. As for the variations advertised in Stadler's 1788 programme,

1426-571: The court on a per-service basis. A concert programme of 12 March identifies the brothers as being in the service of Count Carl of Palm. As of October 1780 Anton was employed by the Piaristen religious order of Maria Treu as a 'manorial musician'. In 1781 Anton was in the service of count Dimitri Galizin. In the same year Kaiser Joseph II designated their services as 'indispensable'. Mozart's first encounter with Stadler may have been around 1781, following his own move to Vienna . In October 1781 he wrote of

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1472-400: The date of composition and only marks an ante quem date. The autograph of this work contains 24 leaves of paper-type 57. Four other compositions that used this paper can be securely dated to 1781. It was shown by Alan Tyson that this fact is sufficiently compelling to presume that K. 361 was composed in 1781. There is no evidence whatsoever that the 24 leaves of this paper-type that appear in

1518-518: The first performance of the sextet version of his E-flat Serenade K 375 : "The six gentlemen who executed it are poor beggars who, however, play quite well together, particularly the first clarinet and the two horns." On 8 February 1782 the Stadlers were invited to join the orchestra of the Viennese imperial court, and the following year they were members of the emperor's Harmonie , in which Stadler played second clarinet. Stadler's evident preoccupation with

1564-626: The most sublime music imaginable. A surviving programme for a concert on 20 February 1788 documents an important milestone in the history of Stadler and Mozart, heralding the arrival of a newly extended clarinet. It announces a concert at the Hoftheater at which Herr Stadler the elder, in the service of his majesty the Kaiser, will play a concerto on the Bass-Klarinet and a variation on the Bass-Klarinet , an instrument of new invention and manufacture of

1610-522: The old Catholic cemetery in Matzleinsdorf. The following list was compiled by Albert Rice. For clarinet : For basset horn : For czakan : For wind ensemble: Serenade No. 10 (Mozart) The Serenade No. 10 for winds in B-flat major , K . 361/370a, is a serenade by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart scored for thirteen instruments: twelve winds and string bass. The piece was composed in 1781 and

1656-561: The orchestra was that of the Estates Theatre, Stadler travelled to Prague with Mozart, who included two arias with major solos for him: Sesto's "Parto, parto", which has a large basset clarinet solo, and Vitellia's "Non più di fiori", which has a basset horn solo of equal prominence. Although the eloquence of Mozart's clarinet writing for Stadler testifies to a remarkable musical relationship, surviving evidence of their personal friendship remains fragmentary. In any case, Mozart's nickname for

1702-416: The other variations, all of which are in B flat major, the fourth variation is in B flat minor. The last two variations are in different tempos from the rest of the movement: the fifth is marked Adagio , while the sixth is marked Allegro . The last variation is also in triple meter, in contrast with the other variations, which are in duple meter. The sixth movement, with the third variation slightly altered,

1748-448: The participation of Stadler and the composer himself. It undoubtedly reflects the favourite techniques and idioms of each of the players, including Stadler's proficiency in the chalumeau register, as illustrated by accompaniment figuration and melodic figures including that part of the compass. Mozart's opera La clemenza di Tito (K 621) was first heard in Prague on 6 September 1791. Although

1794-510: The scoring of Mozart's Serenade K 361/370a, in addition to more ritualistic works such as the Adagio K 411/484a. Indeed, the basset horn came to be associated with Masonic ritual, for which its special character was ideally suited, and Anton Stadler was admitted to the 'Zum Palmbaum' ('Palm Tree') lodge on 27 September 1785. On 20 October of that year he and Mozart performed at a benefit concert (to pay for David's and Springer's journey home) organised by

1840-471: The second clarinet part of Ferrando's aria 'Ah lo veggio' from Così fan tutte descends to d on a total of 7 occasions. Mozart's avoidance of the tonic c has led some writers to assume that d and e-flat were the extra notes on Lotz's instrument, but the obvious parallel with the basset horn makes c and d much more likely: Robert D. Levin reconstructed K 516c and believes that the missing portion must have contained several examples of low c . It

1886-404: The third movement, marked Adagio , is in E flat major. A syncopated pulse occurs almost throughout the movement while solo lines alternate between the solo oboe, clarinet, and basset horn. The fourth movement is a second minuet; like the second movement, it has two trio sections. The fast, staccato minuet section is in B flat major. The first trio, by contrast, has fewer staccato notes and is in

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1932-552: The upper line too difficult (most of the passage work lies in the extreme high register, up to a ) and persuaded the composer to make a simplified version. Stadler was invited by a Hungarian count, Georg Festitics, to help organize a school of music in Keszthely near the Plattensee . The result, Stadler's 50-page Musick Plan of 1800, represents a thoughtful and organized side of Stadler one might not have suspected to exist (the original

1978-441: Was cited by C.F. Cramer the following year. Mozart's espousal of the basset horn really began in earnest in late 1783 when he produced over a period of two years thirteen works for that instrument: The latter dates from the end of 1785. This remarkable activity was undoubtedly brought about by the availability of four excellent clarinet and basset horn players – the Stadlers, David and Springer – who in combination must have inspired

2024-423: Was commissioned from Mozart. It is distressing to see to what extent Mozart involved Stadler in his personal life and finances, considering how often the composer himself was in debt. In the end, though, there can be no doubt that Stadler's character struck a chord deep in Mozart, who was very fond of him. For this we must be grateful: Mozart's close friendship with Stadler and Lotz have given clarinettists some of

2070-580: Was composed in two stages. Bastiaan Blomhert has made a compelling argument that the octet version of movements 1, 2, 3 and 7 of the Gran Partita are the original version, one that Mozart enlarged in 1784 for the Akademie of Anton Stadler in the Vienna Burgtheater . The work is scored for 2 oboes , 2 clarinets , 2 basset horns , 2 bassoons , 4 horns and double bass . In performance, the double bass

2116-510: Was for this extended clarinet that the Clarinet Concerto and possibly the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings were written. A concerto in D major for basset clarinet was written for Stadler by Franz Xaver Süssmayr , which remains as two incomplete manuscripts. It is now thought that the clarinet concerti by Joseph Leopold Eybler and Leopold Kozeluch were also written for Anton Stadler. In

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