The last several years of Mozart’s life saw him flourish in the two genres that best represent his legacy as a composer: the opera and the piano concerto. His great operas typically suffered rocky premieres but rapidly won audiences over. The piano concertos, of which he wrote thirteen from 1784 to 1788, were usually very well received. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Mozart played the soloist’s part in the concertos himself, since his inimitable grace as a musician was fully evident whether he was composing or performing. Nonetheless, his mastery as a composer was always reaching new heights, even in situations where he would not be personally involved in the performances.
Mozart wrote the clarinet concerto for his friend Anton Stadler, while also overseeing the first performance run of his last opera, Die Zauberflöte. Although the clarinet (along with its close cousin, the basset clarinet, for which this piece was actually written) was a relatively new instrument, Mozart had already grown accustomed to writing for its unique sound, writing chamber works for it and including it in most of his orchestral (and operatic) works of the time. The clarinet is unique among the woodwinds for its range of dynamic and register, and its purity of sound makes it especially well suited to be heard against a larger ensemble. Mozart’s concerto is the first in a long line of distinguished solo works for the instrument, and while the extremes of register are not exploited as they would be in a more recent composition, the instrument’s natural lyricism comes across beautifully in nearly every measure.
Historians often marvel that the difficulties of Mozart’s life only rarely intruded upon his music, and the clarinet concerto’s place in his output is particularly poignant in this regard. Although he was in relatively good health during his brief period of work on this piece, his overall condition was deteriorating during his last year. The clarinet concerto would prove to be Mozart’s final completed instrumental composition, and he died within two months of its first performance. In spite of this dark association, the piece is carefree and optimistic – a celebration of the beauty of instrumental sound and of Mozart’s position atop the musical world.