Quatuor K317D - Wolgang Amadeus Mozart

Quatuor K317D en si bémol Majeur
(transcription de la sonate pour violon et piano K378)

In 1985 the "Three Quartets for Clarinet, Violin, Viola and Cello, composed by Mozart. Work 79e", published in 1799 in Offenbach by Johann Anton André (1775-1842), the publisher who bought the "Nachlass", the unpublished manuscripts of Mozart at his death.


The quartet K317d is part of this collection. It is an arrangement of the sonata for violin and piano K378. Although it is not known who the arranger was, one can assume that it was André himself.


In the second half of the 18th century, replacing the first violin of the quartet by a wind instrument (flute, oboe or clarinet) was a common practice. It was encouraged by the vogue for wind instruments, and thus contributed to a wide diffusion of music, to the enlargement of the repertoire and finally to the evolution of instruments.


The arrangement presented here is different from André's, and is more faithful to the original text of the sonata K378. I realized it in collaboration with Marie Béreau, Vinciane Béranger and Christian Wolff. It was recorded with the Manfred Quartet in 2008 (CD Mozart, quintet and quartets, Alpha collection), to accompany the famous quintet and thus prolong the pleasure of playing Mozart, with this tasty mixture of the clarinet and the strings.

Florent Héau
Professeur au C.R.R. de Paris
Professeur à la HEMU de Lausanne

Duration: 20'

for clarinet, violin, viola and cello

Score and parts