Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Clarinet Concerto K. 622

Mozart originally wrote this concerto for a clarinet with an extended lower range, compared to the conventional instrument. As early as 1802, published versions appeared with registral changes, which made the concerto playable on instruments without the extra keys. When producing an edition for the conventional clarinet there are two choices to be made about the 'extra' notes - is it better to maintain the musical line, and hence transpose whole phrases or passages up an octave, rather than single notes, or is the chalumeau tone more important, in which case it may possibly be better to alter one or two notes to keep the correct octave. In this edition Philip Sparke has usually gone for the former so the 'sequences' make musical sense, but have taken the second option in some places. This fantastic work will prove popular with soloist, band and audience alike.