Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622

Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major is one of his very last compositions. A lover of the clarinet—which was still relatively unknown at the time and the composer only discovered it in the late 1770s—Mozart chose to dedicate his final concerto to this very instrument. Following the classical concerto form, he composed three movements, with the central adagio being an enchanting pinnacle of graceful and soothing melodic lines that do justice to the warm, playful, and enveloping sound of the clarinet. However, it is worth noting that the version played since the early 19th century is not actually the original as conceived by Mozart. Indeed, the Austrian master desired his score to be interpreted by a basset clarinet, an instrument invented by Anton Stadler, for whom the work was intended. This basset clarinet can uniquely reach much lower registers than other clarinets. After Mozart's death, music publishers adapted the concerto so that it could be played on higher-pitched clarinets, and the original manuscript was lost. We will probably never hear the music as Mozart composed it, but this version remains a masterpiece in the Mozartian spirit and one of the greatest treasures of the clarinet repertoire.