Mozart Clarinet Quintet Poem by gershon hepner

For six months in Berlin he languished
as inspiration fled,
in Prussia feeling very anguished,
until into his head
the sound of strings with clarinet
restored his spirit and
blew wind to make, with string quartet,
a quintessential band.
For this we must offer our thanks
to clarinetist, Stadler,
who, as inspirer, ranks
above this grateful bardler.


In 1788 Mozart spent six months in Berlin, where he went after his success with “Le Nozze di Figaro”. In that period he wrote only one work––but what a work! He was inspired to write it after hearing Anton Stadler playing the clarinet in Vienna. Not until Brahms would anyone come close to the inspiration that he showed in the divine Quintet for Clarinet and Strings.

1/15/2001