The clarinet was the main solo instrument in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the concerto in 1791, near the end of his life, for the clarinetist Anton Stadler. The work is scored for a solo clarinet with orchestra and is especially important because it demonstrates the instrument’s broad range, agility, warmth, and expressive capacity.
The concerto is associated with the basset clarinet, an extended form of the instrument that could reach lower notes than the standard clarinet of Mozart’s period. Modern performances often use a reconstructed basset clarinet or adapt the solo part for the A clarinet.
The piece is sometimes confused with Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A major, another major work written for Stadler. The quintet uses a chamber ensemble, whereas the concerto pairs the clarinet with an orchestra.