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The last quartet is the only work apart from the aria From Ganges’ beauteous Strands (written circa 1824) in which Crusell used a clarinet in A. He had a ‘pièce de rechange’ in A for his own instrument and in 1802 gave the first known performance after publication of Mozart’s Concerto. His Op 7 is the most positive and advanced of the three quartets. He wrote to Peters that Bernhard Romberg felt it to be one of his best compositions. The outer movements have a flamboyant and military flavour as befits its dedicatee. A splendid foil is given to this by the elaborate slow movement, with its touchingly beautiful coda. There is a strong influence of Weber’s Clarinet Quintet (published in 1816) in this work, especially in the first movement’s second theme and the finale’s repeated-note figures. The two composers met at Dresden in 1822 and took a great liking to each other.

from notes by Pamela Weston © 1999