No one is sure why Mozart was tasked to compose his Clarinet Quintet in A, though it was first premiered at the end of 1789 at a benefit concert for musicians’ widows and orphans. Interestingly enough, the movements of the quintet were also premiered separately among other works – common for the time, but totally unorthodox today. It’s our Evening Masterwork tonight at 7: Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A, on Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9.
Evening Masterworks: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A K 581 for December 7, 2023
![Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/592c7e0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/720x350+0+0/resize/880x428!/grayscale/true/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcd%2Ff9%2Fe9e72c8543c6a29e49aab264e4f7%2Fwsmr-evening-masterwork-images-for-grove-2.png)