Concerto Pieces Flashcards
How was February and March 1786 a busy time for Mozart?
He was completing his opera ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ and still found time to complete two piano concertos. Between 1782 and 1786 Mozart wrote 15 piano concertos, many of which he performed, and these were his main source of income at the time
Mozart Piano Concerto No23 in A, K 488 third movement - what happened to the autograph score?
Sold by Mozart’s widow to a publisher and is now held in a library in Paris. Unusually for Mozart the autograph score includes a cadenza for the first movement; normally if he was performing a concerto he would improvise . He did sometimes write down cadenzas separately if the work was to be performed by somebody else, such as a pupil. There is no cadenza in the third movement
Mozart Piano Concerto No23 in A, K 488 third movement - was the clarinet introduced?
Yes has clarinets rather than oboes, K482 and K491 are Mozarts first piano concertos to use clarinets
Mozart Piano Concerto No23 in A, K 488 third movement - why does the score not have many dynamic markings?
Mozart knew how he wanted the music to be played and did not need to write dynamic indications into his part, orchestra limited to f and p so it was likely that the orchestra would have also used crescendo and diminuendo, but these could either have been indicated by Mozart from the piano, or performers would have known themselves where they would have been expected to put them in
Mozart Piano Concerto No23 in A, K 488 third movement - in some scores during tutti orchestral passages the piano had the… in the left hand
Cello part notated, often with abbreviation ‘col basso’, though sometimes Nozart writes out the bass part
Mozart Piano Concerto No23 in A, K 488 third movement - how did Mozart accompany the orchestra?
Accompanied tutti passages on the piano, playing chords in the right hand, just as a continuo player would’ve done on the harpsichord in Baroque music. The autograph score does not contain any figures under the piano part, as Mozart would have known which chords to play, but the first published edition did include fingering
Mozart Piano Concerto No23 in A, K 488 third movement - how did Mozart tackle the fact that the fortepiano was quieter?
Scores would sometimes indicate that the number of string players was to be reduced in the solo sections, perhaps to just one desk (two players) per part. This is because the forte piano was not as loud as the grand pianos today and may have been drowned out by the large string section
Mozart Piano Concerto No23 in A, K 488 third movement - is it bad that this is considered to be one of Mozarts least virtuosic piano concertos?
Mozart never sacrificed beauty of melody for the sake of virtuosity, here there is less opportunity than usual for the soloist to display their technical brilliance
Mozart Piano Concerto No23 in A, K 488 third movement - what did this draw influence from?
Since Mozart was working hard to complete the Marriage of Figaro (K492) at the time, this concerto was written, writers have pointed to the similarities in style between this concerto and operatic writing. Operatic arias are concerned with a solo singer accompanied by an orchestra; here a solo pianist is accompanied by an orchestra. Also, many melodies in this concerto have a lyrical quality, reinforcing the connection
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A, K 622, first movement - who was this for?
Composed in 1791, Mozarts last instrumental work, two months before he died, dedicated to Anton Stadler of the Vienna Court, a clarinetist friend of Mozarts , first performed with Stadler as soloist
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A, K 622, first movement - what happened to the autograph score?
Stadler pawned it, now lost
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A, K 622, first movement - was it always for clarinet?
The concerto existed first as a sketch for basset horn, a member of the clarinet family, but longer and lower with a bent neck. However Mozart decided the clarinet would be better for this concerto, and the sketch became the first movement. It seems highly likely that the concerto was intended to be performed on the basset clarinet, an instrument developed by Stadler. It was a loner and fatter version of the standard clarinet, capable of playing 4 semi tones lower, with a darker tone
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A, K 622, first movement - what is the structure?
Ritornello-sonata hybrid
Haydn: Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in Eb major, Hob VIIe:1 - did Haydn write many concertos?
He was not a virtuoso performer and concertos were not a requirement of his employment at Esterházy, so his contribution to this form of instrumental music is relatively small
Haydn: Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in Eb major, Hob VIIe:1 - who did Haydn write this for?
His friend Anton Weidinger, a member of the Vienna Court Orchestra who had invented a keyed trumpet, able to play more notes than were available on the natural instruments of the time, Weidinger’s instrument had woodwind-style keys, this was not a success and was superseded by the valve system
