DXXXIV. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)
Mozart -- only 15 -- was on his second visit to Italy. The main purpose of the visit was the commission he received for Ascanio in Alba, K. 111, a festive theatrical composed for the wedding festivities of Archduke Ferdinand and Princess Maria Beatrice of Modena, and performed in Milan on October 17th.
Probably performed at a subscription concert in November, this is likely the very first example of Mozart composing for the clarinet, which was not yet known in Salzburg.
A full decade awaited Mozart's friendship with the virtuoso clarinetist, Anton Stadler, to whom we owe the great concerto and quintet ... but Mozart -- still barely a teenager -- displays a deep understanding of the use of the winds (clarinets and horns) and how pleasurable the offsetting against the strings ...
First movement
Second movement
Third movement
Fourth movement
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