Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Serenade No.10 in B Flat Major, K. 361,
Gran Partita Divertimento No.7 in D Major, K. 205
The early career of Mozart as an infant prodigy had taken him to the leading
cities of Europe and accustomed him to the admiration of the great, the famous
and those who were simply curious. Leopold Mozart, who was to become and to
remain Vice-Kapellmeister to the Archbishop of Salzburg, sacrificed his own
career and ambitions to the genius of his son, teaching him and then arranging
his career for him, hoping always for some recognition for what seemed to him a
miraculous gift of God.
In the event material ambitions remained largely unrealised. In adolescence
Mozart found himself tied to the Salzburg court, and his excursion to Paris in
1777 and 1778, unaccompanied by his father, provided nothing to his advantage,
while bringing him into contact with the Weber family, a connection that was to
prove distinctly disadvantageous when he was, in 1782, inveigled into marriage
with Konstanze Weber, after being jilted by her elder sister.
It was in 1781 that Mozart broke his ties with Salzburg and, to some extent,
with his father. During the course of a visit to Vienna, as a member of the
household of the Archbishop of Salzburg, Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, he
quarrelled with his patron and secured his immediate dismissal. There was now no
question of returning to Salzburg and to his father. Lured, perhaps, by the
initial enthusiasm of the musical public in Vienna, he stayed there, winning
early success in the opera- house and with a series of piano concertos. His
fortunes were to take a turn for the worse towards the end of the decade, but
seemed to recover with the popular success of The Magic Flute, which was
running at the time of his sudden death in 1791.
The Serenade in B Flat, K. 361, known sometimes as the Gran Partita
from a later, misspelt addition to the title-page of the autograph, seems to
have been written in 1783 and 1784, rather than in 1781, as Alfred Einstein
supposed. The first reference to the Serenade occurs in accounts of a
concert given by the clarinettist Anton Stadler on 23rd March 1784. Johann
Friedrich Schink, who was present, has unreserved praise for the playing of
Stadler and for Mozart's composition, listing the thirteen instruments involved,
but mentioning only four movements. There is no doubt that Schink is referring
to the B flat Serenade, and we may presume that only four of the
movements were played at Stadler's concert. The Serenade is scored for
two oboes, two clarinets, two basset-horns, four horns, two bassoons and
double-bass and is in eight movements. The first of these opens with an imposing
introduction, leading to an Allegro, with constant variations in the
grouping instruments, among which the clarinets are usually prominent. The first
Minuet has a first Trio scored for clarinets and basset-horns, and
a second using the whole ensemble, with a lively part for the first bassoon.
There follows an Adagio in which the poignant melody is shared by the
instruments, the first oboe phrase capped by the clarinet and followed by the
basset- horn. The second Minuet has a first Trio in B flat minor
and a second in F. It is followed by a Romance, its opening Adagio proceeding
to an Allegretto basset-horn duet. The Theme and Variations that
make up the seventh movement allow the first clarinet to announce the theme. The
first variation, a triplet version of the theme, is followed by a second in
which basset-horn and bassoon at first combine. In the third variation the two
clarinets illustrate the two registers of the instrument, the flute-like upper
notes and lower, chalumeau register, used in accompaniment, as it is in the Trio
of the E flat Symphony of 1788. The fourth variation is in B flat
minor, the fifth an Adagio and the sixth a lively conclusion. The last
movement, a cheerful rondo, has all the brilliance of an operatic finale, in
which the soloists still have their own characteristic comments to make.
The Divertimento in D major, K. 205, is true to its name. It was
completed in Salzburg probably in July, 1773, before a journey to Vienna, and
probably intended as a tribute to Maria Anna Elisabeth von Antretter, wife of
the Salzburg Court War Counsellor, for whose son Mozart was to write a
celebratory Serenade later in the year, to mark the completion of his
university studies. Scored for two horns, a single violin line, viola, with
bassoon, cello and double bass, the Divertimento opens with a slow
introduction, leading to an Allegro that varies briefly in mood. The
first Minuet has a contrasting G major Trio for the strings alone,
and is followed by a slow movement in which the viola is given a fairer share of
melody than is often the case. The Trio of the second Minuet allows
the French horns some initial prominence, and this leads to a final movement
full of witty allusion and variety well suited to the occasion for which it was
presumably designed.
