Stamitz Concertos Explained
Carl Stamitz wrote several clarinet concertos, some of the first significant ones for the classical iteration of the instrument. It is safe to place the 11 identified solo concertos within the last 30 or so years of the 18th century. Beyond that, concrete information about these works is lacking because research is sometimes conflicting, and record-keeping introduces complications. For example, the clarinettist thought to be a collaborator on Concerto No. 6 is usually indicated as Johann Joseph Beer, although Jacob suggests in his 1991 book that it could be Franz Joseph Bahr; definitive attribution is difficult, especially when common spelling variants on the name "Beer" at the time included Baer, Baher, Pär, or Bähr! The same issue can create difficulties when researching records for "Stamitz," a name that might have been spelled as Stamniz, Stamits, Stamiz, Staimez, etc.
Various attempts have been made to organize Stamitz's clarinet concertos, and they can be found in catalog records, dissertations, and academic journal articles; particularly significant efforts have been made by Boese, Kaiser, and Newhill. Jean-Georges Sieber's publishing firm in the late 1700s lists several of Stamitz's concertos, presenting a common starting point for numbering the works. The following table (from Jacob, noted below) charts the various numbering schemes.
Kaiser | Sieber | Boese/Tuthill | Newhill |
1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
2 | 2 | 5 | without number |
3 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
4 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
5 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
6 | 11 | 10 | |
7 | 3 | 3 | |
8 | 1 | 1 | |
9 | 2 | 2 | |
10 | 10 | 9 | |
11 | 9 | 8 |
This chart refers to the following sources:
Michael Jacob: Die Klarinettenkonzerte von Carl Stamitz [1991]
Friedrich Carl Kaiser: Carl Stamitz (1745-1801) [1962]
Helmut Boese: Die Klarinette als Soloinstrument in der Musik der Mannheimer Schule [1940]
Burnet C. Tuthill: Concertos for Clarinet: Annotated Listings [1972]
John P. Newhill, "The Contribution of the Mannheim School to Clarinet Literature," Music Review 40, no. 2 (May 1979)
Note that CAMco uses the Kaiser system, which reflects a rough chronological order, to number the listed Stamitz concertos. For any given concerto with conflicting numbering, the publisher's concerto number is included in CAMco's secondary title information in grey-colored text.
Concerto No. 1
Piano reduction: Billaudot, EMB, Kunzelmann, Schott
Arrangement for clarinet & clarinet quartet: Billaudot
Full score: Eulenberg (miniature size), Schott
Concerto No. 2
Concerto No. 3
Concerto No. 4
Concerto No. 5
Concerto No. 6
Piano reduction: G. Schirmer, Kunzelmann
Full score: Kunzelmann (miniature size)
Concerto No. 7
Piano reduction: Complete Works, Dowani (with audio accompaniment), IMC, Jeanné, Peters, Peters (with audio accompaniment)
Full score: Peters, Editions Musicales Transatlantiques (wind ensemble arrangement)
Audio accompaniment: Peters (performance tempo), Peters (slower and performance tempi)
Arrangement for wind ensemble: Editions Musicales Transatlantiques
Concerto No. 8
Concerto No. 9
Piano reduction: Schott
Concerto No. 10
Piano reduction: Sikorski
Concerto No. 11
Piano reduction: Sikorski
Basset Horn Concerto (originally in C)
This has been transposed into multiple keys between publishers.
Piano reduction: Musica Rara (E-flat Major), Amadeus (B-flat Major)
Full score: Amadeus
Double Clarinet Concerto
Piano reduction: EMB, Peters
Full score: Peters
Clarinet & Bassoon Concerto
Piano reduction: Sikorski
Full score: Sikorski
Johann Stamitz Clarinet Concerto in B-flat Major
Piano reduction: Billaudot, Henle, Schott
Full score: Eulenberg (miniature size), Schott