Anton Stadler
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Anton Stadler (1753 - 1812) was a clarinet and basset horn player for whom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote both his Quintet for Clarinet and Strings and Clarinet Concerto.
He was reputed to have a beautiful tone, with exceptional mastery of the low register of the basset clarinet and basset horn playing. A noted virtuoso, he played second to his brother Johann in the Vienna Court Orchestra. It was possibly this specialism in second clarinet along with the basset horn that led to his collaboration with Theodore Lotz, a clarinet maker. His idea was to add an extension to his B♭ and A clarinets - in the same vein as the basset horn - an extra major third to a low C. It was for this extended clarinet (now known as the basset clarinet but initially called a bass clarinet in the days before the modern bass had been invented) that the Clarinet Concerto and possibly the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings were written.
There have always been rumours that Stadler's friendship with fellow Freemason Mozart was inspired by greed; pawning works written for him, borrowing sums of money that he never repaid and constantly eating and drinking at Mozart's expense. However these are still rumours, and have never been conclusively substantiated.de:Anton Stadler fr:Anton Stadler it:Anton Stadler fi:Anton Stadler
