In grateful G major

The basic idea of tuning the A major clarinet concerto a tone lower came from Mozart himself: in the E flat major Sinfonia Concertante K. 364, he notated the viola in D major, which - tuned a semitone higher - sounds brighter. And in the A major Sinfonia Concertante K. Anh 104/329e, he allows the viola - tuned a whole tone higher - to use more empty strings. Mozart originally drafted the Concerto for Basset Horn K. 621b in G major, but completed it in A major for the famous clarinettist Anton Stadler. The editions for viola available today are all in A major: Bärenreiter, IMC, Ricordi. However, a transcription for viola in G major was published by Johann André as early as 1802; this is the basis for the present edition.

The editor has based the bowings on Mozart's violin concertos and the violin schools of Leopold Mozart and Etienne Baillot. Anyone studying this work on the viola should also study the original. The fingerings are usable. It is amazing how well this arrangement lies on the viola: the whole range from the empty C-string to the two-stroke g is pleasantly available! The orchestral material is also available from the same publisher.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Viola Concerto in G major after the Clarinet Concerto KV 622, edited by Teresa Schwamm; Viola principale and piano reduction: OCT-10345a, Fr. 29.60; score: OCT-10345, Fr. 31.90; Edition Kunzelmann, Adliswil