Quintet for Clarinet, two Violins, Viola and Violoncello in A major (K.581) (Stadler Quintet)

Mozart Quintet for Clarinet, two Violins, Viola and Violoncello in A major (K.581) (Stadler Quintet) (Parts)

Mozart’s clarinet quintet, according to his own catalogue of works, was completed in Vienna on 29 September 1789, presumably during his work on the opera Così fan tutte.  It was intended for his friend, the clarinetist Anton Stadler (1753–1812), and Mozart, accordingly, referred to it himself at times as “Stadler’s quintet”. 

The first performance took place in the old Vienna Burgtheater on 22 December 1789 in a subscription concert of the Viennese Tonkünstler-Sozietät (Musicians Society).  The clarinet was played by Anton Stadler himself; the first violin part by the concert master Josef Zistler.

The autograph of the work has been missing since Mozart’s death.  It is possible that it was in the trunk of Mozart’s music which Stadler told Constanze, Mozart’s widow, was stolen from him during a trip through Germany, or which, in the opinion of Viennese acquaintances, he had pawned.

- Urtext of the New Mozart Edition

- Parts (BA4711) and study score format 22.5 x 16.5cm (TP14) available for sale