Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble

 “The music of Mozart is of such purity and beauty that one feels he merely found it—that it has always existed as part of the inner beauty of the universe waiting to be revealed.”  

(Albert Einstein)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The Once and Forever Genius

Music simply poured from his pen with astonishing ease and grace.   He was one of the few composers in history who wrote masterworks in virtually every genre.  He had the uncanny ability to compose anywhere and with phenomenal speed: he dashed off his 12 horn duets one evening in a bowling alley.  Over the course of his short life, his output was staggering: over 600 pieces, including 41 symphonies, 25 piano concertos, 26 string quartets and 22 operas, nearly half of which he composed while still a teenager.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prodigy without peer.  He was born in Salzburg in 1756, the son of a court musician who was determined to shape his talented son’s career.  By the age of five Mozart was accomplished on the violin and keyboard and was composing simple pieces.  He wrote his first symphony when he was eight and his first opera at 14.  Eager to show off his wunderkind, Leopold Mozart took his young son on extended tours across Europe, frequently appearing in aristocratic salons and performing before royalty. 

As a young adult Mozart was employed by the Archbishop in Salzburg until his unceremonious dismissal in 1781—he was literally booted out the door—following repeated disagreements.  He settled in Vienna, where he intended to earn a living composing operas.  At times he was modestly prosperous; at other times he was borrowing money to maintain a lavish lifestyle, and a friend once caught him dancing with his wife, Constanze, to keep warm in a cold apartment when there was no money for coal. 

By 1786, Mozart’s popularity and income were declining.  He died at the age of 35 deeply in debt. Constanze scrambled to get his manuscripts published and, in some cases, to find composers willing to complete works left unfinished, such as—most famously—the Requiem Mass.  She was eventually successful in translating her late husband’s resurgent popularity into financial security. 

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Who (or what) killed Mozart?  Despite the suggestion in the popular film Amadeus (1984) that a jealous Antonio Salieri somehow murdered Mozart, or at least wanted to, evidence now points to a strep infection as the likely killer.  

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What does the “K” number mean? In 1862 Ludwig von Köchel catalogued Mozart’s works, giving each a “K” number. “Anh” (Anhang) means “attachment,” indicating the work is an addendum to the cataloguing.  Due to periodic updates, some works have two K numbers: the first is the original catalog number and the second the updated one. 

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String Duo No. 1 in G Major, K. 423 (for Violin & Viola)  

A 17-year-old Mozart wrote two string duos for violin and viola in 1773 to help Michael Haydn, Joseph’s younger brother, complete a set of six commissioned by the Archbishop of Salzburg. Though there are obvious similarities in style, the viola part of String Duo No. 1 differs from Haydn’s, with many passages in sixteenths, giving more weight to the viola part (Mozart had a preference for the viola, his instrument of choice when he played in small ensembles).  Although Mozart’s workmanship is clear, the Archbishop appears to have been none the wiser.

Quartet for Clarinet & Strings, K. 378/317d (for Violin, Viola, Cello & Clarinet)

This playful quartet for clarinet and strings is an older transcription of Mozart’s three-movement violin sonata in B-flat major, completed around 1779 while he was still living in Salzburg and published shortly after he arrived in Vienna. The identity of the transcriber, if not Mozart himself, is unknown.  

Quintet for Clarinet & Strings in B-flat Major, K. Anh. 91 (for 2 Violins, Viola, Cello & Clarinet, completed by Robert Levin)

It was love at first sight when Mozart encountered a clarinet in Mannheim in 1778.  When Mozart died, he left several works in progress, this breezy single-movement quintet for clarinet and strings among them. It was completed by Robert D. Levin (b. 1947), a contemporary pianist and musicologist, but it clearly illustrates Mozart’s affinity for the clarinet. 

Serenade in G Major, K. 525, “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” (for 2 Violins, Viola, Cello & Double Bass)

If anyone knows only one piece by Mozart, odds are it is this one, which was not published until 1827, long after the composer’s death.  When Mozart’s widow sold a bundle of manuscripts to a publisher in 1799, this jewel was among them.  Written about the same time as his opera Don Giovanni, this polar opposite, with its four light and graceful movements, demonstrates a mature mastery of counterpoint and form and remains Mozart’s best-loved work. 

-Program notes by Sara Grossman