Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, was written in October 1791 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler, who was the most gifted clarinetist in Vienna. It consists of three movements, in a fast–slow–fast succession: I. Allegro (in A major and in sonata form) II. Adagio (in D major and in ternary form) III. Rondo: Allegro (in A major and in rondo form) The Clarinet Concerto in A was Mozart’s only concerto for that instrument, and he completed the work just two months before his death in 1791. Stadler, who was himself a composer and a teacher whose students included members of the aristocratic Esterházy family, served on the staff of the Russian ambassador to Vienna before taking positions with the imperial court wind band and the imperial orchestra. Stadler was quite familiar with Mozart’s music, and he had participated in many performances of his friend’s symphonies and operas. Mozart adapted his melodies specifically to Stadler’s own instrument (now called a basset clarinet), which had a more extended low range than standard clarinets. Stadler was also the inspiration for Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, another of his great late works. The autograph manuscripts of both the concerto and the quintet were in Stadler’s care after Mozart’s death but are now lost.
Clarinet : Arngunnur Árnadóttir (born 1987 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic poet and musician. She studied clarinet at Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin and graduated in 2012. Since then she is the lead clarinet player for the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra. In May 2015, Arngunnar was awarded the Icelandic Literary Fund’s grant for young writers for her debut novel. Her first book of poetry, Unglingur (Teenagers) was published by Partus Press in the series Meðgönguljóð in 2013.
