Richard Hosford / Gaudier – Quintets For Clarinet & Strings

This recording brings together three closely related works for clarinet and strings, linking Classical elegance with 20th-century English lyricism. At it’s heart is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A major, K.581, written for Anton Stadler and one of the defining masterpieces of the clarinet repertoire. From the poised opening Allegro to the intimate, aria-like Larghetto and the finely judged closing variations, Mozart places the clarinet at the centre of a richly expressive chamber dialogue. Gordon Jacob’s Clarinet Quintet (1940), composed for Frederick Thurston, reflects a clear admiration for Mozart’s clarity of form while speaking in a distinctly English voice. Concise, lyrical and expertly balanced, the work moves from an autumnal opening through urgency and rhapsodic reflection to a characterful set of variations. The program concludes with a rarity: the unfinished Allegro of a second Mozart clarinet quintet, completed by Duncan Dru