AMozartADay

furryham:

Writing some Amadeus-based fanfiction. It’s been a while since I did any solo work. I ship van Swieten and von Strack (the Chamberlain).

Van Swieten is quiet and sensitive but passionate and educated. The Chamberlain is tired and lonely and overworked. They’re an autumn years/elderly couple, and I find such things terribly cute.

Oh.
My.
Gosh.
Approved.

This is the best thing ever. Van Swieten is like, one of my favorite people in history because he truly facilitated Mozart’s exposure to early music.

And they are such minor characters in the movie. This will be fantastic.

violadream:

Day 01 - your favourite classical music piece
Day 02 - your least favourite classical music piece
Day 03 - a classical music piece that makes you happy
Day 04 - a classical music piece that makes you sad
Day 05 - a classical music piece that reminds you of someone
Day 06 - a…

First new thing: this will be happening, but with only Mozart’a music!

AND WE’RE BACK!!!

Get ready followers. Over the course of today and tomorrow, you will see a complete revitalization of AMozartADay. We are so excited to bring you this music once more, picking up right where we left off!

Cheers,

Wolfie & Co.

Day 16 (July 6th, 2012):

Concert Aria for Soprano and Orchestra, “Conservati Fedele”, K. 23

Mozart composed the aria in October 1765 while staying at The Hague during the family’s British-European tour, when he was nine years old. Both of the Mozart children, Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl, were quite ill at the time. It was slightly revised in January 1766, possibly for a performance for Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau. In his list of Wolfgang’s works which he started in 1768 in Vienna, his father Leopold entered this piece as no. 2 of 15 Italian Arias, composed in London and The Hague (German: 15 Italiänische Arien theils in London, theils im Haag Componiert).

The Newberry Library (Case MS 6A, 48), Chicago, acquired the manuscript (6 sheets, 11 pages) through a bequest of the opera singer Claire Dux –Mrs Charles H. Swift– (1885–1967 in Chicago). It was previously owned by Raphael Georg Kiesewetter who gave the autograph to Aloys Fuchs as a gift. Both Fuchs and Abbé Maximilian Stadler confirmed its authenticity with their signatures on 7 December 1832. The Neue Mozart-Ausgabe also mentions an autograph (4 sheets, 7 pages) at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in its Malherbe collection.

Translation:

“Stay and remain faithful;

Think how I grieve alone here,

And sometimes at the least

Remember me.

While I by power of love

Talking to my own heart

Converse with thee.”

Day 13:

Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, K. 22 (complete recording)

The Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, K. 22, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in The Hague in December, 1765, at the age of nine, while he was on his musical tour of Western Europe. Mozart fell seriously ill during his stay in Hague, and he wrote that composition probably while he was convalescing from his illness. The symphony is scored for two oboes, two horns and strings. The form is that of a three-movement Italian overture:

1. Allegro, 4/4

2. Andante, 2/4

3. Allegro molto, 3/8

All three movements are colored especially prominently by horns. A rousing first movement in the key of B-flat major opens the symphony, followed by a more solemn, mournful movement in the relative key of G minor. A short, boisterous finale closes the work. The opening theme to the finale is borrowed from the finale to keyboard concerto by Johann Christian Bach whom Mozart had met the previous year in London. The same theme would also appear in a much later, more mature work of Mozart’s: the Act 2 Finale of his 1786 opera buffa, Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492.

Day 12:

“God is our refuge”, K. 20

Another exciting time for A Mozart A Day. This post represents the first vocal work by Mozart, and is also his ONLY piece with all English text. Of course, written in London in 1765 while studying Händel, that seems appropriate. A study of the facsimile shows two different handwritings, clearly the nine year old Mozart and his father.

This is a musical setting of Psalm 46: 1- “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Note the tragic key of g minor.

Day 10:

Symphony No. 4 in D Major, KV. 19

Where did Ks.17 and 18 go, you might ask? Well, as it turns out, Leopold Mozart wrote K. 17 and Wolfgang copied someone else’s symphony into his notebook as a study, but the publishers who found it after his death thought it was his. They were each symphonies, hence the title of KV. 19 (Symphony No. 4). Quite technically it is the second symphony that Mozart wrote.

Also written in 1765, also in London, it comprises of three movements: Allegro, Andante, Presto.

This wonderful recording was produced by Christopher Hogwood and The Academy of Ancient Music. 

Day 9:

Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major, K.16

Part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPCPc6fDlaI&feature=relmfu

What an exciting day this is! Mozart’s first orchestral work! Composed in London in 1764. How much more classic can one get than the opening of this symphony? This is truly leaps and bounds beyond K.15. Certainly following the style of J.C. Bach, but still so much more interesting than anything he ever wrote. The short development section retains Mozart’s ever playful nature while dabbling in the keys of c minor (relative minor to E-flat major) and f minor (iv of c minor). 

This work shows a complete mastery of the nature of all instruments involved. Symphonic writing is not only difficult due to the amount of instruments and notes one must deal with, but also because each instrument has many specific timbre and pitch qualities that must be taken into account. The eight year old Wolfgang seemed to grasp this incredibly well.

Day 8:

Sonata for keyboard and violin in B-flat Major, K. 15

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0BwI4FvT_Q&feature=channel&list=UL

In K. 15 there is a strong influence of English music, especially that of Händel. Of course this is appropriate, as Ks. 10-15 were written in London. While the B-flat sonata does not very much compare in excitement to the one in C Major (K. 14), it is interesting none the less. Mozart continues to develop his voice imitation techniques, as well as the logic of harmony. In m. 19 we see a reasonable tactic- proceeding a note of resolution (‘D’ in this case) with a harmony consisting of a semi-tone above (e-flat) and a semi-tone below (c#). The trouble is….this does not sound very good. It lasts but a quick moment (a 16th note), but when one is playing an alberti F major chord in the bass and writes c# and e-flat in the soprano lines, there is bound to be trouble. The e-flat can be passed of as making the F chord and F7, the dominant in our key of B-flat, but the c# is simply out of place. It resolves, as previously mentioned, to a D (part of the g minor chord of measure 20), but not in any way that is satisfying to the ear.

A delightful aspect of this piece is the inherent drama, and also Mozart’s way of sounding repetitious to common ears, but incredibly fresh to trained ones. These are building blocks on the way from child prodigy to mature genius.

A full score of this piece can be found here.

Day 7:

Sonata for keyboard and violin in C major, K. 14 (complete)

Part of the keyboard/violin sonatas of K.10-15, K.14 displays a certain fleshing out of the appoggiatura (and also the ritardation). Use of arpegiated bass is noted. In the development section, there is a direct modulation from G major (V) to g minor, and from there to f minor, a key very rarely used by Mozart. 

In the second movement (allegro) we see exciting progress in the style of Mozart. Strewn about the keyboard and violin parts are playful grace notes. In fact, they are part of the main themes of the first minuet of movement three, as well. While perhaps used more sparingly in mature Mozart, these grace notes are an important mile-marker on our journey to K. 626.

A complete score to this work can be found here.