The Kegelstatt Trio

Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio (K. 498) was dedicated to his then 17 year old piano student Franziska Jacquin (1769-1850; by Mozart sometimes called “Signora Dini mini niri”). The arrangement for clarinet, viola and piano was an “invention” by Mozart, and when the Kegelstatt Trio was played for the first time, in the home of Baron Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (father of Franziska; 1727-1817), the clarinet was played by Anton Stadler, the violin by Mozart himself, and the piano part by Franziska. Baron Jaquin was himself a close friend of Mozart; as professor of Botany at the University of Vienna and director of the botanical garden at Schönbrunn also acquainted with Emperor Joseph II and the Vienna aristocracy, the very same circles frequented by Mozart. Baron Jacquin himself played flute with Mozart on some of the many house concerts arranged at Jacquin’s home. Baron Jaquin’s youngest son Gottfried (1767-1792, nicknamed “Hikkiti Horky” by Mozart) was one of Mozart’s closest friends, and made some attempts in composing himself. The plant shown here has a note written by Baron Jacquin, written when he sent it to his Swedish friend, colleague and correspondent Carl Linnaeus (see http://www.linnaeus.c18.net/). Maybe it was collected when Jacquin went to the Antilles and South America in the late 1750’s for collecting plants to Schönbrunn, or perhaps from some of the plants cultivated there after his travel. Linnaeus later donated the specimen to one of his disciples, Andreas (or Anders) Dahl (1751-1789), who worked for another of Linnaeus’ discipes, Claes Alströmer (1736-1794; son to Jonas Alströmer, a pioneer of agriculture and industry in Sweden). In 1848, the Alströmer herbarium (some 4500 specimens) was donated to the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

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