Ravinia 2024 Issue 4

before the oboe restates the widely spaced theme. The vivid opening music returns, greatly cur- tailed and lacking a key change. Muted violins and bassoons exchange a simple three-note descending motive at the beginning of the Andante . Mozart scattered three-note mo- tives throughout the orchestral texture in every measure of this movement. A minor-key Menuetto always comes as a sur- prise. The composer enhanced this dramatic effect with a loud, ominous Sturm und Drang unison. A tender phrase for upper strings pro- vides momentary calm, which a forte phrase for the full ensemble disturbs. The entire min- uet builds on this unconventional sequence of three four-measure phrases. By contrast, the major-key trio projects a lighter ambience through its wind-instrument scoring and more traditional pairing of four-measure phrases. The minuet music returns without repeats. Mozart introduces the Allegro with a minor-key unison theme—presented quietly by strings and bassoon, then repeated stridently by the full en- semble with an added syncopated accompani- ment. A strings-only version of the theme, now in a major key and piano dynamic level, func- tions as an abbreviated second theme. Theme fragments appear in the development, though its primary focus involves tonal motion. Mozart resumes the opening themes, continuing to ex- plore their motivic and dramatic potential, be- fore reaching a strong final cadence in G minor. Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 (“Turkish”) Scored for two oboes, two horns, bassoon ad libitum, strings, and solo violin Young Mozart traveled throughout Europe— Italy, Vienna, Mannheim, and Paris—during the 1770s, studying the various national styles of composition. With this cosmopolitan back- ground, he sought an appointment at one of the important musical centers in Germany or Austria. Mozart’s status in his native Salzburg was tenuous at best, and his attempts to join the Imperial Court in Vienna were unsuccessful. By the middle of the decade, Mozart developed a close association with Munich that he hoped would lead to a permanent position. He had been commissioned to compose an opera for the Carnival season in 1774. The first performance of that work, La finta giardiniera , was sched- uled for December 29 but was postponed until January 13. Although the opera received an en- thusiastic response from the Munich audience, Mozart was offered no position at court, and he returned unhappily to Salzburg. Back home, he focused on new instrumental combinations, perhaps hoping to draw new at- tention to his varied musical talents. Besides the first set of six piano sonatas and the two-act Il rè pastore , Mozart produced in rapid succession five concertos for the violin. His only completed works in the form, the concertos were complet- ed between April and December of 1775. Mozart may have composed these for Antonio Brunet- ti, first violinist of the Salzburg court orchestra and a family friend. It is also possible that the concertos were written as showpieces for Mo- zart’s abilities as a violinist. As the son of Leo- pold Mozart, a famous violinist and author of a treatise on the instrument, Wolfgang became almost as proficient on the violin as he was on the keyboard. Leopold lavished praise on Wolf- gang’s violin playing: “You yourself do not know how well you play the violin, if you will only do yourself credit and play with energy, with your whole heart and mind, yes, just as if you were the first violinist in Europe.” The autograph manuscript of Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219, bears the completion date December 20, 1775. Though written less than three months after No. 4, the rapid pace of Mozart’s compositional development sets this final violin concerto apart from its siblings. The full orchestral complement announces the main themes of the Allegro aperto . Then, in an unusual twist, the solo violin enters with a slow, declamatory phrase. Shortly thereafter, Mozart resumes the brisk expansion of themes. The Adagio shines with the expressive powers of the violin. Underneath, chromatic harmonies occasionally season the orchestral accompani- ment. Mozart composed a substitute slowmove- ment—the Adagio in E major, K. 261—since, according to Brunetti’s tastes, the original piece sounded “too artificial.” The finale begins con- ventionally as a rondo with a minuet refrain. Af- ter two contrasting episodes, Mozart inserts an unrelated “exotic” segment in duple meter. This music allegedly incorporates actual Hungarian or Turkish tunes, one of which also appeared among sketches for the ballet La gelosie del ser- raglio (The Jealousy of the Seraglio, or Harem) from his opera Lucio Silla . Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 Scored for flute, two oboes, two clarinets (added to later version), two bassoons, two horns, and strings The year 1788 was not a particularly good one for Mozart. Until that time, the multi-talented mu- sician living in Vienna had enjoyed reasonable financial success through his combined incomes as a performer, teacher, and composer. In 1787, he basked in very profitable winter and autumn concert seasons in Prague, and Viennese audi- ences greeted his music with equal generosity. Aspiring musicians from across Europe made pilgrimages to Vienna hoping to study private- ly with Mozart. In April, a little-known piano prodigy from Bonn—Ludwig van Beethoven— arrived for that purpose, but his mother’s illness cut short the stay. A nominal appointment to the Imperial court as Kammermusicus (his only official position in Vienna) on December 7 add- ed several hundred florins to the family budget. The only damper on Mozart’s spirits came with the death of his father Leopold on May 28. External events soon shattered his increasingly comfortable lifestyle. Mounting tensions be- tween Austria (siding with Russia) and Turkey erupted into war on February 9, 1788. Tighten- ing economics forced the dissolution of the Ger- man opera company and closure of the Kärnt- nertortheater, effectively obliterating any opportunity for Mozart to replicate his recent operatic successes in Prague. Between the ill-fat- ed production of Don Giovanni in May 1788 and the premiere of Così fan tutte on January 21, 1790, no Mozart opera was staged in Vienna. His efforts in the publishing business proved simi- larly frustrating. Mozart sought subscribers for a forthcoming set of string quintets, but post- poned publication due to lack of interest. Fur- thermore, several planned concerts of his music were canceled. Mozart’s income dropped to nearly half of the previous year, leaving the in- creasingly desperate musician little alternative but to borrow money. What direct effect this turmoil had on his mu- sic remains a source of debate. Mozart certainly wrote nothing on the subject. Fate had not al- ways been kind to the musician. His music pe- riodically employed “gloomy” minor keys—17 minor-key works date from the Vienna peri- od—but with no apparent connection to events in his own life. However, a link between biogra- phy and music seems intriguingly probable in 1788, when grim political and economic events coincided with an artistic production as haunt- ingly dark and Romantic as the Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550. Considering his dire financial situation, Mozart completed the score quickly on July 25, 1788, perhaps intending it for one of the canceled Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Johann Georg Edlinger (c. 1790) RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 75