The complete piano trios The clarinet trio : "Kegelstatt"

Abstract

By the middle of 1788, Mozart's fortunes were in decline. Although he had obtained the appointment of chamber composer at the Viennese court, the salary was paltry and his attempt to revive Don Giovanni in Vienna in May had been an expensive failure. Upon the death of his six-month old daughter in June, he and Constanze were compelled to move to a cheaper apartment outside the center of town; there he began to write letters to his friends and Masonic brethren asking for money. During this dreariest of months in his life, Mozart penned the K. 542 piano trio, and in a letter to his friend Michael Puchberg, suggested it as a sort of excuse to have a party. It would seem to be a product of Mozart at his finest, having been written simultaneously with, and finished just four days before, the Symphony No. 39, the incredible E flat, K. 543.

The opening movement of the trio is very simple and open; the piano and strings trade themes and motives in turn rather than combining their threads into a single structure. There is more chromatic variation—accidentals and key changes—here than in the earlier piano trios. Except for a brief development section, the middle movement (Andante grazioso) contains only a single thematic element; it remains essentially intact throughout the movement. The finale (Allegro), however, is structurally, harmonically, and chromatically complex; it gives the impression of a symphonic movement transcribed for three parts. There are also passages of successive modulations—a device Mozart employed almost maniacally in the final movement of the E flat symphony upon which he was working at the same time. Mozart's earliest work involving the clarinet, a Divertimento in E flat for two clarinets and two horns, K. 113, was composed in Milan during November 1771. It was to herald a number of exceptional masterpieces featuring the instrument, which culminated in the Clarinet Concerto, K. 622, Mozart's final instrumental work, and the Clarinet Quintet, K. 581.

Another outstanding creation involving the instrument was written under circumstances that, if popular tradition is to be believed, seem highly improbable. Nevertheless, it is widely held that Mozart composed the Trio in E flat for clarinet, viola, and piano, K. 498 while participating in a game of skittles; this would account for its nickname, the "Kegelstatt" Trio ("Kegelstatt" = "Skittle Alley"). The score is dated August 5, 1786, and the work is, by any reckoning, extremely dense and cerebral, and hardly the outcome of any frivolous diversion.

The Trio largely eschewes virtuosity in favor of exploiting the natural lyrical qualities of the clarinet and viola. The result is what has been aptly termed one of his most perfectly integrated compositions, with an interplay among the three instruments full of delightfully subtle touches. According to Mozart's friend and informal pupil Caroline von Pichler the trio was composed for Franziska von Jaquin, another pupil, and a member of a family who were close friends of the Mozarts. It is probable it was first performed by Franziska accompanied by Mozart, and the outstanding clarinetist Anton Stadler, for whom Mozart composed a number of works (including the above-mentioned Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581 and Concerto in A, K. 621). In 1788, the trio was published in Vienna by Artaria with an optional violin part as an alternative to the clarinet.

Set in three movements, the "Kegelstatt" Trio opens with an Andante in the tonic key of E flat, featuring complex dialogue between these three unusual instrumental collaborators. As French musicologist Jean Gallois observes, "delicacy and intimacy are skillfully expressed in the questions and answers exchanged by the protagonists. The second motif, on the clarinet, is also similar to the first theme; there are no great conflicts, therefore. On the contrary, a dialogue is gradually built up, a series of confidences like those one shares with friends." The B flat Menuetto, which follows, is also built upon contrasts, though the main theme is announced in unequivocal terms at the outset. Interestingly, the main theme of the trio section also reappears at the close of the recapitulation. The work ends with a dazzling and exhilarating Rondeaux—the French term here substituted for the more customary "Rondo." The final movement is remarkable for its two intermezzo-like passages in which the piano comes to the fore. The work ends in sublime fashion, as the clarinet offers commentary on earlier ideas.