Mozart Clarinet Concerto

Some pieces of music are so great as a whole, that some of the magnificent details are missed. Such, I discovered, can be the case with Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, truly one of music’s greatest treasures. Every measure of each of the three movements is to be relished. But it is the second movement that is, for me, the most moving and unforgettable. For me, this movement is one of the most poignant movements ever written. Its sublime nature never fails to move me, as I’m sure it does all who play or listen to it. The solo clarinet part is one transcendent phrase after another. T he layered sequential patterns of the orchestral ritornelli bring tears to even the most hardened of eyes. In the midst of hearing Heaven, does anyone notice the cellos?
One of the elements of Mozart’s music that gives it great expressive power is the feeling that even in the sunniest of movements, there is some degree of heartache or pain. In this movement, I believe that the heart-tugging quality is provided by the cello line, played expertly by Karen Pinoci, Nancy Connell and Alex Filamon in the March 8 performance I conducted with the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey.
The heart-tug begins right in the very first measure. Seemingly, the notes “d-a-d” are simple roots of tonic-dominant-tonic. Yet, Mozart creates a tug by having the V-I occur on beats 1 and 2, almost creating a sort of metrical appoggiatura. As if to emphasize a sense of distance and growing apart, the clarinet repeats the phrase with slight variation so that it reaches a 3rd higher before falling back. The cellos repeat their phrase exactly, unable to soar along with the clarinet. Then follows the first orchestral ritornello echoes the opening eight measures of the clarinet line. The cello line serves the same harmonic function, but now has a rhythmic element. The opening dotted half note becomes a quarter note – quarter rest – quarter note figure. Now, not only can’t the line soar upwards with the melody, it is almost too sad to even hold pitch for the entire measure. Next the clarinet plays the moving 2-measure long sequential passage that provides the heart of the movement. Again, the cello line seems to be a normal supportive bass line. However, it again adds greatly to the emotional poignancy. Like the clarinet, earlier, the phrase moves upwards as if reaching towards the upper part. However, now, the clarinet phrase, though rising sequentially with each statement, is a dropping figure. The two are still unable to soar together. In the process, in the midst of near-sublime beauty, there is an aching tug of emotions, a sadness that colors and adds greatly to the poignancy of the feeling communicated to the audience.
I admit it’s easy to read a lot of meaning in this line. Mozart’s genius lies in so many aspects of his writing and this is just a seemingly small part. However, in conducting it in rehearsal and in concert, hearing the cello line achingly interact with the familiar melodic phrases, I realized just how powerful the writing is. Next time you listen to the second movement of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, pay closer attention to the brilliant attention Mozart gave to that cello line. Appropriate for music of the era, the cellos provide a strongly supportive harmonic bass. At the same time, they provide an emotional depth as they are played with, against, in support of and in contrast to the melodic motion above them.

In almost every writing on the Ring, Siegfried is often referred to as the most difficult to sit through, the least interesting, the least likeable or the simply lacking the appeal of the other three operas. Or, it is referenced as the turning point where Wagner’s style so obviously changed having taken a break in the Ring to write Tristan and Meistersinger.
Yet, on closer examination, it is perhaps the greatest of the Ring operas rather than the least. I admit the first act – which we cut in our performance – does go on a little long with only three voices singing for the duration. I also admit that in the course of that first act, one doesn’t find much in any of the characters to actually like. But, once the 2nd act gets going, the action moves swiftly with a great deal of energy. But for me, it is the 3rd act that brings the work to the heights of theatrical brilliance. Right from the opening notes, one sense something happening on an almost cosmic level. The orchestra rushes with some of the most exciting music ever written. Wotan’s entrance (more accurately The Wanderer) is one of opera’s great moments. He arrives like a storm. His first sounds are powerful. One can just see him standing against the wind as he sings with the force of destiny. But, here is the voice of somebody torn between accepting destiny and yet still wanting to do whatever it takes to thwart what he knows will lead to his own destruction.
He calls forth Erda. I have heard too many dismiss this scene as being unnecessary to the plot and delaying the real confrontation between father and grandson that is to follow. This dismissal, however, I think is too easy to do and in doing so, one misses one of the greatest confrontational scenes in all opera. Here are the real protagonists of the entire ring: Wotan, the God who sets everything in motion, the very human god who does wish for the best yet hungers for the power and the sense of being in control; Erda, the seemingly passive earth goddess, mother to the Valkyries and the Norns, possessor of all the world’s knowledge. Their music is brilliantly composed. Their every utterance ripples with the force not of destiny, but of the human experience. Power must pass from generation to generation. The world order must be destroyed on some level in order to regenerate. Wotan’s days are over. One senses that Erda realizes that even Wotan’s plans for the future are based on falsehood and wrongness. Siegfried may be the hero untouched by Wotan’s direct actions, but his very existence is the result of actions that remain part of Wotan’s larger scheme. Erda realizes that even the coupling of the world’s greatest heroic male with the world’s greatest heroic female will not produce what Wotan wishes, if for no reason other than that Brunnhilde is in fact Siegfried’s aunt on one level but on a more damning level, her father is his grandfather!
Still, Wotan stands against the forces of destiny. Erda leaves and Wotan sings a monologue in which the musical energy reaches ever greater peaks and the entire opening 30 minutes is in fact the penultimate pivotal point of the saga with only Wotan’s confrontation with Siegfried left to tear the old order asunder and prepare for the love that won’t last to come.
Before relegating Siegfried to the bottom of the operatic heap or to also-ran of the Ring, it should be listened to more closely. Before dismissing the opening scene of the 3rd act, one should experience it more fully. One then realizes that it is in fact one of the greatest scenes not only in opera, but in any form of Western theater.

Welcome to my initial entry for Concerts and Conversations. I am happy you’ve joined me. For those who don’t know me, let me take a moment to introduce myself. I am a conductor and musicologist. I currently am Music Director or Conductor for The Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, New Jersey Concert Opera and Opera at Florham. I have conducted orchestra and opera performances throughout the area and in Eastern Europe with The New Jersey Symphony, The Plainfield Symphony, The Orchestral Society of Philadelphia, The Garden State Sinfonia, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, Opera Constanca, The Little Opera Company of New Jersey, Harmonium Choral Society, The Masterworks Chorus, The Oratorio Society, Congress Orchestra Philharmonic Society of St Petersbug, Filarmonica “Ion Dumitrescu” de Stat Rm Valcea , Filarmonica de Stat Botosan, Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu and with the young musicians of the Skylands Youth Orchestra and Lakeland Youth Symphony. I currently teach at Montclair State University and have taught at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Drew University and Sussex County Community College as well as lecturing for the New Jersey State Council For the Humanities. I have written as a music critic for Opera News, Classical New Jersey and several New Jersey newspapers.
Concerts and Conversations is more than just the name of my blog. Much of my work is about communication. As a conductor, I am communicating with the musicians in the orchestra, the singers in the production and with the audience in the theater. As a teacher, I am communicating with students in music survey courses. Many of these students have at most a passing acquaintance with orchestral or operatic music. As a lecturer, I am communicating with those who come to share their as well as my understanding of the musical experience. I try to communicate in a way that feels like we are having a conversation. I discuss what I have learned either through my research or through my performances. Aside from all this, however, one could say that a truly successful concert is in some way a conversation between musicians and between musicians and audience.
Concerts and Conversations also refers to a series of shows I have produced with The Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey for cable broadcast. These shows combine lecture with performance. I discuss a piece of music I have conducted with the orchestra, inserting appropriate video clips from the performance. The 30-40 minute talk is followed by the complete performance. So far, we have produced three of these for broadcast. The third and most recent is on Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto and features acclaimed pianist Paul Zeigler and his performance of May 4, 2008 with the orchestra. This video is available on DVD through the orchestra. Please visit the website at www.baroqueorchestra.org for further information.
Future entries to the blog will focus on specific events or works that I have conducted or researched. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you and hearing your comments and thoughts as well.