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These pages contain program notes written for Redwood
Symphony. You are free to use the information in your own program
notes. If you quote me directly, please attribute it. Thanks!
These notes were edited, amended, and otherwise
improved by Eric Kujawsky, Peter Stahl, and Doug Wyatt.
Barbara Heninger
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sinfonia Concertante
The "sinfonia concertante" was a genre that briefly became popular
in the late 18th century, when concerts began moving out of private salons and
into public concert halls. This form, which strove for a symphonic structure but
included elements of the concerto, was intended to let the audience hear the
orchestra as a group as well as several soloists alone and in ensemble. Mozart
began writing five different pieces in this mode during the years 1778-79, when
he traveled to Mannheim and Paris. It was a difficult time for the composer; his
mother died while they were in Paris, and -- as was typical throughout his life
-- he had once again run low on funds. Perhaps due to these distractions, Mozart
never finished two of his sketches. However, when he returned to Salzburg in the
summer of 1779, he completed his final work in this genre, for violin and viola
in E-flat major. Alfred Einstein has called it Mozart's "crowning
achievement in the field of the violin concerto," superior to his five
earlier violin concerti.
Mozart most likely intended to play the viola part himself, as the viola was
his preferred instrument in string ensembles. Although the key of the piece is
E-flat, Mozart wrote the viola part out in D and instructed that the instrument
be tuned a half-step high, so it could be played in what musicologist Michael
Steinberg has called a more "brilliant and sonorous key" for the
viola, yet sound in E-flat. (Most modern violists simply transpose the part to
E-flat.) This emphasis on sonority is the hallmark of the piece. Charles Rosen,
in The Classical Style, writes: "The sonority of the Sinfonia Concertante
... is unique. The very first chord -- the divided violas playing double-stops
as high as the first and second violins, the oboes and violins in their lowest
register, the horns doubling cellos and oboes -- gives the characteristic sound,
which is like the sonority of the viola translated into the language of the full
orchestra. This first chord alone is a milestone in Mozart's career: for the
first time he had created a sonority at once completely individual and logically
related to the nature of the work."
This majestic opening Allegro maestoso is followed by an Andante in which the
solo instruments exchange a warm, lyrical dialogue. The structure is
deliberately loosened to allow for a chain-like succession of glorious melodies
that are shared equally by the two soloists. The mood is consequently expansive,
permeated by a recurrent feeling of tragedy that is finally dispelled in the
finale, as the brisk Rondo closes the piece with virtuoso brilliance. Certainly
Mozart never wrote a more lyrical work.
(Written with Eric Kujawksy)
April, 2004
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