Schubert's Famous Octet is music written for friends – who must also have been outstanding musicians, since the work often makes the highest technical demands on the performers. The listener shouldn’t be misled by the pastoral key of F major: Schubert wouldn’t be Schubert if he didn’t repeatedly take his seemingly easygoing music down somber paths.

Schubert

The Baden-Baden Casino

Mozart was convinced that his piano quintet was his most perfect work. Pieces for the piano were especially personal for him – but here his beloved woodwinds are included as well. The young Beethoven was also captivated by Mozart's work and responded with his own wind quintet.

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Mozart & Beethoven

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

Chamber music, including Beethoven’s Horn Sonata and Vaughan Williams’s romantic Quintet. But there’s also room on the programme for lesser-known names: discover the music of hornist–composers Frédéric Duvernoy and Franz Strauss (Richard’s father), as well as a subdued nocturne by Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt and an inventive trio by Carl Reinecke.

Close-up: the horn takes centre stage

The Concertgebouw

Schubert’s Octet, for three wind and five string instruments, was composed 200 years ago, in 1824. The instrumentation was completely new at the time. With its large-scale structure comprising six movements, the work looks ahead to subsequent developments, but the music never for a moment feels heavy, its light and lilting quality always prevailing.

Arno Piters

Events

Past events

Apr 1, 2026

Schubert · Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

Mar 29, 2026

Mozart & Beethoven · Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

Future and recently performed repertoire

Clarinet in Octet by Schubert

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

Clarinet in Quintet for Piano and Winds by Mozart

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

Clarinet in Octet by Widmann

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Clarinet in Trio No. 1 by Duvernoy

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Clarinet in Quintet in D major by Williams

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

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