Mozart: Beyond the fluff
>> Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Too many times I've heard people say of Mozart's music that it's "pop music" or "fluff". And indeed, it does have that reputation for several reasons. First of all, Mozart was the first freelance composer in history. In other words, he composed strictly on commission. He wasn't employed by a prince, king, or bishop, therefore he had to compose what he was asked to compose and compose it to the liking of the one who commissioned it. Second, Mozart's music is extremely "tuneful". Because he had to market his music to the general public, he composed it in a way that appealed to the musician and the non-musician alike. Third, Mozart wasn't afraid to "buck the system". He played to the general public and not just royalty and/or nobility and so he composed music that appealed to a wide spectrum audience.
But venture into Mozart's chamber works, his string quartets, quintets, nocturnes and Lieder, the things he composed for himself and for his closest musician friends, and here's where the man's genius moves beyond public appeal. Here's where the serious, ahead-of-his-time, innovator, the composer who didn't give a fig what the public thought, revealed himself.
Featured today are all four movements of the Mozart string quintet in g minor k.516,the Salomon Quintet. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, this work is a "viola quintet" in that is scored for string quartet and an extra viola (two violins, two violas and cello).
Please, take the time to listen to the work in its entirety, and experience Mozart beyond the fluff.
12 comments:
We watched Amadeus over Christmas break. I hadn't seen it in the longest time. We got such a kick out of "too many notes"! :)
What has always amazed and fascinated me, and what I have always loved, is the many layers to Mozart's music. You can listen to the top layer: the beautiful melodies; or dig into the deeper layers and find such wonders there, it boggles the mind. It's kind of like going deeply into the workings of a cell, or deeply into the structure of atoms. The deeper you go, the more you find. It's almost like entire universes exist there.
It makes me wonder where all the geniuses are these days.
I love his music -- it's so diverse!
Willow: Here is the actual context of that conversation:
After hearing The Abduction from the Seraglio, Joseph tapped Mozart on the shoulder and said, "Very well, very good, Mozart; only there are too many notes for my simple ear".
Mozart: "Neither more nor less than are needed, Majesty."
Joseph II: "Well, perhaps you are right; indeed, you must know the best."
Kathy:Steph and I were discussing this yesterday. Too many people try to figure Mozart out by reading the family letters, and by what others have written about him. The problem with that is that Mozart was too multi-faceted to peg him to such narrow summations. You can't trust the family letters because quite frankly, he lied a great deal of the time--especially to his father, and most certainly to his wife. And the problem with what others have written about him is that their experiences with him are limited to certain circumstances. The best way to know Mozart is through his music. He expresses the entire gamut of his personality through his music. And those who don't hear the layers or whose ears aren't trained to hear the layers miss the dimensions of the man. That's one reason I get so frustrated with Mozart "fans", who are not trained in music, who think they know everything there is to know about the man devoid of the understanding of his music.
Kay: You are right. His music is very diverse. Too many people think all Mozart sounds alike. When someone says that, it's an idicator to me that they've probably only heard "Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik" and the "Rondo Alla Turca".
Hey, how are you doing?
I have the 2nd edition of the Emily Anderson translations, as well as a couple of other books of some of his letters and the very first time I read them, I could tell that he was saying only what his father wanted to hear, and what others wanted to hear. I knew it wasn't the whole of the man. Still, his sense of humour came through in a lot of the letters, despite mistranslations, etc. But it was his music that taught me who he was/is. I fell in love with his music when I was in high school. My brother bought a Boston Pops Christmas album and the piece that immediately grabbed me was Mozart's "sleigh ride" (actually, I think it's one of his German dances). That's what started it for me; then when I began on the clarinet and my instructor had me learning the Clarinet Concerto, I just swooned. Hard to learn? Oh yeah - but it was a labor of love for me. I felt like I was being pulled into the notes on the page, merging with them, rather than simply playing them. Some phrases were so wonderful, I'd play them over and over.
Sorry - I didn't mean to ramble so. It's just a subject dear to my heart.
Ms. Erwin,
Whilst not an aficionado of Mozart in the full sense of the meaning, I am quite particular to many of his renderings of the more contemplative kind.
I am, &c.
Colonel Brandon.
Nature Diary
Kathy: No need to apologize! I know how very dear Mozart is to you. In fact, it's Mozart who began our friendship! :) BTW, we keep the facsimile of Mozart's thematic catalog that you gave us laying on our coffee table. I keep it bookmarked on the "Ch'io mi scordi di te" K.505--the farewell aria that he composed for Nancy Storace and where he wrote along with the musical incipit, "Für Mlle. Storace und mich." I think of you every time I look at that book, and what a thoughtful and lovely gift it was.
Leon Basin and Colonel Brandon: Welcome to you both!
Aw, thanks, Nettl! You and Steph are always in my thoughts. That's my favorite Mozart book, even more than the Anderson translations. I remember the first time I saw that book - actually it was a much older printing of it - at the Wayne State library. I'm embarassed to admit I started crying! It felt like a direct connection to Mozart. I was so happy I was able to find a copy of the facsimile for you and Steph. You should have seen me packing it up - I was so excited and wished i could be fly on the wall when you and Steph opened the package! I'm happy it's still giving you happiness!
To all the other bloggers here - try to find this book - it's absolutely fascinating and if you are trained in music and can read the scores, you will be amazed.
1. The last movement cuts out at 7.10.
2. Why do I like second movements so much?
3. Wrong place to ask this, but what is the difference between a nineteenth century piano, like those of our time (?), and the ones Mozart would have played?
Marc:
1. I noticed that too, but I thought it was worth posting anyway.
2. I'm with you. My favorite movements are often the 2nd.
3. Here's what Wikipedia says about it:
The fortepiano has leather-covered hammers and thin, harpsichord-like strings. It has a much lighter case construction than the modern piano and, except for later examples of the early nineteenth century (already evolving towards the modern piano), it has no metal frame or bracing. The action and hammers are lighter, giving rise to a much lighter touch, which in good fortepianos is also very responsive.
The range of the fortepiano was about four octaves at the time of its invention and gradually increased. Mozart (1756–1791) wrote his piano music for instruments of about five octaves. The piano works of Beethoven (1770–1827) reflect a gradually expanding range; his last piano compositions are for an instrument of about six octaves. (The range of most modern pianos, attained in the 19th century, is 7⅓ octaves.)
Fortepianos from the start had devices similar to the pedals of modern pianos, but these were not always pedals; sometimes hand stops or knee levers were used instead.
Like the modern piano, the fortepiano can vary the sound volume of each note, depending on the player's touch. The tone of the fortepiano is quite different from that of the modern piano, being softer with less sustain. Sforzando accents tend to stand out more than on the modern piano, as they differ from softer notes in timbre as well as volume, and decay rapidly.
Fortepianos also tend to have quite different tone quality in their different registers — noble and slightly buzzing in the bass, "tinkling" in the high treble, and more rounded (closest to the modern piano) in the mid range.[1] In comparison, modern pianos are rather more uniform in sound through their range.
I love Mozart's piano music played on the fortepiano! I went to a piano workshop with my piano instructor, and Malcolm Bilson was the presenter. He demonstrated Mozart's music on three different period fortepianos. It was so incredible. The expression that you can get with a fortepiano is so different. It's very subtle, and I was amazed at all the new colors I heard in Mozart's music when played on the fortepiano. I think if I had the choice of having a fortepiano or a harpsichord, I might choose the fortepiano over the harpsichord. But, of course, if money were no object, I have both! haha
Post a Comment