Post by erik on Oct 10, 2020 17:26:42 GMT -5
Mozart may have gotten ideas for integrating the clarinet into the orchestra from a German contemporary of his named Carl Stamitz. That compsoer's 11th Clarinet Concerto is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight.
Carl Stamitz: CLARINET CONCERTO NO. 11 IN E FLAT MAJOR
A German composer of Czech ancestry, Carl Stamitz was known for being of that late 18th century school of composition known as the Mannheim School—specifically the second generation of such. Because his life spanned the last gasps of the Baroque era and into the late Classical era (1745-1801), Stamitz’s orchestral works stylistically resembled the two giants of classical music during that time, namely Haydn and Mozart. One area where Stamitz excelled significantly was in the field of concertos for wind instruments, particularly the clarinet. The quality of the clarinet concertos, of which Stamitz was known to have written eleven, gave Mozart the idea for incorporating the instrument into the symphonies he would come to write; and perhaps these works may have given him the kernels of ideas for what would become his big masterpiece for that instrument near the end of his life, the A Major concerto. The 11th Clarinet Concerto, believed to have been composed during the period of 1782-1784, when Mozart was revolutionizing operas and piano concertos, is a relatively short work at just under eighteen minutes in length, but in the standard fast/show/fast three-movement concerto form, with the solo clarinet being allowed room for expressiveness, though not overt virtuosity, as would be allowed by Mozart, or, more prominently, in the two concertos for clarinet by Carl Maria von Weber. Stamitz’s orchestration for the 11th Clarinet Concerto is similar to what Mozart would have for his: standard woodwind, horn, and string compliment. Partly because of the enormous popularity of Mozart’s and Weber’s works in the form, however, Stamitz’s contributions would only see greater performances in the last three decades of the 20th century, particularly as they would be championed by the great modern German-born clarinetist Sabine Meyer.
Clarinet: SABINE MEYER
Academy of St. Martin In The Fields/IONA BROWN (EMI)
Included:
Carl Stamitz: CLARINET CONCERTO NO. 3 IN B FLAT MAJOR
Johann Stamitz: CLARINERT CONCERTO IN B FLAT MAJOR
Carl Stamitz: CLARINET CONCERTO NO. 10 IN B FLAT MAJOR
Carl Stamitz: CLARINET CONCERTO NO. 11 IN E FLAT MAJOR
A German composer of Czech ancestry, Carl Stamitz was known for being of that late 18th century school of composition known as the Mannheim School—specifically the second generation of such. Because his life spanned the last gasps of the Baroque era and into the late Classical era (1745-1801), Stamitz’s orchestral works stylistically resembled the two giants of classical music during that time, namely Haydn and Mozart. One area where Stamitz excelled significantly was in the field of concertos for wind instruments, particularly the clarinet. The quality of the clarinet concertos, of which Stamitz was known to have written eleven, gave Mozart the idea for incorporating the instrument into the symphonies he would come to write; and perhaps these works may have given him the kernels of ideas for what would become his big masterpiece for that instrument near the end of his life, the A Major concerto. The 11th Clarinet Concerto, believed to have been composed during the period of 1782-1784, when Mozart was revolutionizing operas and piano concertos, is a relatively short work at just under eighteen minutes in length, but in the standard fast/show/fast three-movement concerto form, with the solo clarinet being allowed room for expressiveness, though not overt virtuosity, as would be allowed by Mozart, or, more prominently, in the two concertos for clarinet by Carl Maria von Weber. Stamitz’s orchestration for the 11th Clarinet Concerto is similar to what Mozart would have for his: standard woodwind, horn, and string compliment. Partly because of the enormous popularity of Mozart’s and Weber’s works in the form, however, Stamitz’s contributions would only see greater performances in the last three decades of the 20th century, particularly as they would be championed by the great modern German-born clarinetist Sabine Meyer.
Clarinet: SABINE MEYER
Academy of St. Martin In The Fields/IONA BROWN (EMI)
Included:
Carl Stamitz: CLARINET CONCERTO NO. 3 IN B FLAT MAJOR
Johann Stamitz: CLARINERT CONCERTO IN B FLAT MAJOR
Carl Stamitz: CLARINET CONCERTO NO. 10 IN B FLAT MAJOR
