Rachel Vernon (clarinet), Aroha String Quartet
Wellington Chamber Music Trust 2022
St. Andrew's on the Terrace
1 May, 2022
Mozart wrote his clarinet quintet for his friend Anton Stadler, who was a fellow Freemason and a celebrated clarinettist in the Imperial Viennese Court Orchestra. Mozart admired his playing and wrote a number of works for him, including the clarinet concerto and clarinet trio, and he called this work ‘Stadler’s Quintet’. It was first performed in December of 1789 and as far as we know it’s the first clarinet quintet ever. The clarinet had only been around since the beginning of the century and even the string quartet was still quite new. Mozart had been experimenting with quintet form for several years, and in this he reaches the absolute peak of his mature late style.
