Overture to Don
Giovanni, K. 527
W. A. Mozart
The theme of Don Juan, the inveterate seeker after
sensory pleasures, runs through European literature. When Mozart was
invited to compose a new opera for Prague after the huge success there of
The Marriage of Figaro , he called upon his librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte,
who produced a libretto in which the amorous Don finally receives his
comeuppance via the supernatural apparition of the statue of the
Commendatore, whom Don Giovanni has killed in a duel to avenge the Donıs
seduction of the elderly military manıs daughter.
Overtures in the classical opera rarely attempted to foreshadow the drama to
come. However, in the powerful opening music in D minor, Mozart provides a
hint of what comes in the opera when the statue appears demanding that Don
Giovanni repent his misspent life. Though the rest of the overture is a
sunny D-major Allegro, the shudder of the opening affects the way we hear
the remainder of the opera. The Overture was the last part of the opera to
be composed (posssibly on the night of October 27 or 28). It opened under
the composerıs direction on October 29 of 1787.
Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K.
216
W. A. Mozart
In 1775, at 19, Mozart composed five concertos probably to showcase his own
impressive skills as a violinist. He was, after all, the concertmaster in
the employ of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, and the violin was the
instrument with which he earned his salary. Though he had shown a
preference for the piano, he was never modest in describing his own violin
playing . In a letter to his father (October 6, 1777) he wrote: "I
played
as if I was the greatest violinist in all Europe."
In the first movement of the G Major concerto No. 3 the main theme begins
regally. It takes a brief excursion into minor, but soon returns to the
initial theme. In the second, while the orchestraıs muted violins provide a
murmuring background and the lower strings a serenade-like pizzicato, the
solo violin soars above them with a song-like melodic line. The third
movement opens with a sprightly meter, but Mozart interposes two slower
movements in the middle of the finale. In the conclusion of this movement,
the solo part breaks off in mid-phrase giving the last word to the winds .
A Letter from Mozart to his Father, 23 October 1777
"Last Sunday I attended Mass in the Church of the Holy Cross and at ten
oıclock I went to Herr Stein....We rehearsed a few symphonies for the
concert. I lunched with my cousin at the Holy Cross Monastery. In spite
of their poor fiddling I prefer the monastery players to the Augsburg
orchestra. I performed a symphony and played Vanhallıs violin concerto in B
flat, which was unanimously applauded....In the evening at supper I played
my Strassburg concerto....Afterwards they brought in a small clavichord and
I improvised, then played a sonata and the Fischer variations. Then the
others whispered to the Dean that he should just hear me play something in
the organ style. I asked him to give me a theme. He declined, but one of
the monks gave me one....I started off in the major key and played something
quite lively, though in the same tempo; and after that the theme over
again....Finally it occurred to me, could I not use my lively tune as the
theme for a fugue? I did not waste much time in asking, but did so at
once....The Dean was absolutely staggered. 'Why, itıs simply phenomenal,
that's all I can say' he said."
Serenade No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11
Johannes Brahms
The word "serenade" literally means "evening music" . It has
come to denote a piece to be played outdoors in the evening like a lover's
courting song. The form was often used by Mozart and other
eighteenth-century composers. Demonstrating his interest in music of the
classical period, Brahms resurrected the form and made it his own. Applying
his German seriousness to it , he titled the work "Sinfonie-Serenade" but
then changed his mind and crossed it out on the manuscript. The Serenade
appears to have been originally intended as a chamber work for eight or nine
instruments, but Clara Schumann persuaded Brahms to expand the
instrumentation for a classical orchestra.
The solo horn opens the work by announcing the theme (possibly from Haydn),
echoed by the clarinet and oboe before the orchestra joins in. A second
theme appears in the strings. The movement continues in traditional
symphonic allegro form, and ends with a gentle coda. In the second movement
a chromatic melody weaves its way through the orchestra. The third movement,
the longest of the six, features woodwinds in what is perhaps the focal
point of the Serenade. The fourth movement is two menuettos: in the first
the clarinetıs lilting melody floats above the bassoons. Viennese music
critic Eduard Hanslick called this "...perhaps the prettiest moment yet
written by Brahms." The second Menuetto brings a darker theme led by the
violins. The fifth movement is a hunt theme boldly intoned by the horns.
The finale begins with a statement of the theme followed by two lyrical
episodes. Then Brahms brings the work to an exhilarating conclusion with
soaring strings.
Notes compiled by Ginger Kuper
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