Noteson the Program

11-04 Myers.qxp_Layout 1 10/23/15 2:45 PM Page 27 NOTES ON THE PROGRAM By James M. Keller, Program Annotator The Leni and Peter May Chair Divertimento in D major, K.125a/136 Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, K.417 Serenade No. 10 in B-flat major, Gran Partita, K.361/370a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ust what is this piece supposed to be, any - Then, too, this work has long been claimed Jway, this Divertimento in D major ? It’s one as a piece of chamber music, and among the of three roughly similar works that, in the com - available recordings music lovers will find poser’s manuscript, are headed with the words readings by such revered ensembles as the “di Wolfgango Amadeo Mozart Salisburgo 1772.” That leaves no doubt that Mozart wrote all three IN SHORT in his hometown of Salzburg (Italianized as “Salisburgo”), and historical evidence suggests Born: January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria that they must date from the early months of that year — when he was 15 going on 16, and a Died : December 5, 1791, in Vienna decade along in his composing career. Each of the three pieces is also headed with the inscrip - Works composed and premiered: Diverti - tion Divertimento I (or II or III), but that is writ - mento, composed early in 1772, in Salzburg; ten in a hand other than Mozart’s. It was in no premiere unknown. Horn Concerto No. 2 com - way unreasonable to call such pieces diverti - pleted in Vienna on May 27, 1783; premiere un - mentos; the term had no very specific meaning known. Serenade composed in Vienna, probably in the Classical period apart from describing in late 1783 or early 1784; some movements compositions of a diverting nature. That’s all were apparently premiered March 23, 1784, at well and good but hardly precise, especially in the National Hoftheater in Vienna. the context of a prolific composer who produced New York Philharmonic premieres and most diverting music at the drop of a tricorn hat. recent performances: Divertimento premiered The two most commonly employed modern February 11, 1971, Seiji Ozawa, conductor; most editions of these works present them under the recently performed April 17, 1986, Christopher competing names “Three Divertimentos” and Hogwood, conductor. Horn Concerto No. 2, “Three Salzburg Symphonies without Winds.” premiered January 27, 1973, Pierre Boulez, Either way seems acceptable. Each of these conductor, John Cerminaro, soloist; most recently works is structured identically to coeval pieces played, December 12, 2008, Lorin Maazel, con - Mozart did call symphonies, and if musicolo - ductor, Philip Myers, soloist. Serenade premiered gists steeped in the vagaries of Classical in - March 8, 1958, Leonard Bernstein, conductor; strumental music were shown this score with most recently performed December 20, 1988, no title attached, they would have no reason to Zubin Mehta, conductor assume that it was anything other than a sym - phony. Still, Mozart did not actually label this Estimated durations: Divertimento, ca. 13 piece as such, an omission that may or may not minutes; Horn Concerto No. 2, ca. 13 minutes; be significant. Serenade, ca. 45 minutes NOVEMBER 2015 | 27 11-04 Myers.qxp_Layout 1 10/23/15 2:45 PM Page 28 Amadeus, Kocian, and Talich quartets. Cer - and second violin, viola, and cello sections but tainly the D-major work played here sounds no double basses), or treat it as a symphony in like a proper string quartet when played by a all its fullness, with cellos and double basses proper string quartet. The sparkling figuration doubling each other at the octave on that bot - of 16th notes that fills the first violin part (and tom line. For a piece that on the surface seems sometimes the second violin part as well) in the entirely guileless, this divertimento, or sym - first movement seems to make more reasonable phony, or whatever it is, raises some pretty demands when aimed at a virtuoso soloist than basic issues, and a conductor has some deci - an entire orchestral section — or, better put, it sions to make about how to present it. takes a very well-honed section of virtuoso vio - The character of the piece will certainly vary linists to make that movement flow fluently. depending on the performing forces chosen, but If this piece was intended to be a string quar - its appeal remains, no matter what: a brilliant tet, was it even for a standard string quartet as opening Allegro , a gentle Andante with an Ital - we know it, comprising two violins, viola, and ianate musical accent, and a sonata-form finale cello? The score doesn’t actually mention a in which the contrapuntal pretensions of the de - cello; the lowest line is simply labeled basso , velopment section are likely to make listeners which could refer to the fact that it functions as smile broadly as they cheer the composer along the bass line or perhaps that it was to be played the path toward his musical maturity. by a double bass. The combination of two vio - lins, viola, and double bass was a common en - When Ludwig von Köchel put the finishing semble in Mozart’s Austria, sometimes known, touches on his Chronological and Thematic Cat - in fact, as a “divertimento quartet.” These alogue of the Complete Works of Wolfgang chamber music assemblages may have a bear - Amadé Mozart in 1862, he could do so with the ing on how one chooses to treat the piece even contentment of someone who had made the when it is presented in an orchestral guise; a best of a difficult job. His catalogue has gone conductor could dispense with cellos entirely through six editions since then and is poised to and simply use multiple players of the “diverti - appear in a seventh one of these years. Each of mento quartet” configuration, or consider it a these has updated the chronology of Mozart’s scaled-up standard string quartet (with first compositions (and, in some cases, rendered A Career Progresses Alhough Mozart was only 15 or 16 when he wrote his Divertimento K.125a/136, he had already been composing for a full decade, and his expertise clearly exceeded the level of a journeyman. His great masterpieces still lay ahead, but in 1772 Mozart was making impor - tant strides and he had already gained considerable recognition. In 1770, Pope Clement XIV awarded him the Order of the Golden Spur, effectively an honorary knighthood; in 1771, during a trip to Italy, he had been honored by Milan’s musical elite for his exceptional work; and by the end of 1772 his opera Lucio Silla would mark an impor - tant breakthrough in his development as an opera composer. Although much of Mozart’s work from this period has fallen into the shadows, this divertimento is one of the very earliest that continues to hold sway in the repertoire. Mozart, wearing the Order of the Golden Spur, in a portrait from 1777 28 | NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC 11-04 Myers.qxp_Layout 1 10/23/15 2:45 PM Page 29 decisions pro or con concerning their authen - sometime around 1786–88 plus a fragment of a ticity) to reflect the ongoing parade of musico - finale from 1791, the composer’s final year. logical research. Much more is now known All of Mozart’s major compositions for about the historical and bibliographical details horn — the concertos and the Horn Quintet of Mozart’s music than in 1862; and, accord - (K.407/386c) — were written for his friend ingly, many of the hallowed “Köchel numbers” Joseph Leutgeb or, as the composer sometimes attached to Mozart’s works can no longer be misspelled it in his letters, “Leitgeb.” Leutgeb taken to reflect the state of the art with regards (1732–1811) had known the Mozart family for to chronology. many years — since 1762 or 1763, when he had Mozart’s Horn Concertos are particularly begun playing with the Court Orchestra in problematic in this regard. He wrote four of Salzburg and was a colleague of Leopold them, plus (in March 1781) a Rondo in E-flat Mozart and his precocious son. Like young major that was apparently never attached to a Wolfgang, he enjoyed a busy career touring as larger concerto. The earliest, his Horn Con - a popular soloist in the musical capitals of Eu - certo in E-flat major, dates from May 1783, rope, but in 1777 he settled in his native Vi - and it is that work heard in this concert. enna to assume the day-to-day responsibilities Köchel, thinking it was the second one Mozart of running the cheese shop his wife had in - wrote, called it the Horn Concerto No. 2 and as - herited from her father. Leutgeb, it seems, signed it spot “K.417” in his catalogue. The next flourished less as a cheesemonger than he had one, also in E-flat major, was composed in June as a concert soloist, and at one point Mozart 1786: Köchel thought it was Mozart’s Fourth, interceded to beg patience from his own tight - and assigned it the K. number 495. The “Third” fisted father, who had uncharacteristically ex - Horn Concerto (again in E-flat major, K.447) tended a loan to their old friend. “I beg you may have been written as early as 1783 or as to be patient a little while longer with poor late as 1787–88. And then there is the so-called Leutgeb,” wrote Wolfgang in May 1782, from Horn Concerto No. 1 in D major (K.412), which Vienna, where he was also living. “If you consists of two completed movements from knew his circumstances and saw how he has The Waldhorn Mozart composed all of his horn music — including the Horn Concerto No.

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