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Although Mozart wrote his Clarinet Quintet two years before his Clarinet Concerto (in 1789), there are striking parallels between the works: both were intended for Anton Stadler, both are in A major, and both contain a breathtakingly beautiful slow movement in D major. This quintet and concerto represent the apotheosis of the clarinet oeuvre of the first true pioneer of the instrument.

For Mozart, the quintet may have been the prelude to the concerto, but for the Belgian composer Piet Swerts (°1960) the relationship is exactly the other way round. He had first written a clarinet concerto in 1997, but subsequently found "that the impact could be even more lyrical", an impression which he then incorporated into a quintet he dedicated to Roeland Hendrikx in 2001. It contains a meditative and esoterically slow movement (Elegia), a feather-light Scherzo, and a desolate and sometimes even caustic opening movement à la Shostakovich.

For the Belgian national radio Klara, the recording of this quintet by the Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble is a real favourite. The CD was awarded the Klara music prize 2006, and according to the Association of the Belgian Music Press, it was the "Best Belgian CD" of 2006.