Terzetto in C Major, Op. 74

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

While much music is written for the concert hall, other works came into existence simply for fun at home. Such is the case with Antonín Dvořák's Terzetto in C Major, Op. 74. A chemistry student who was also a violinist was renting a room in the Dvořák household, and Dvořák decided to brush up his viola skills so that he could play music with his tenant and his violin instructor.  In January 1887, in the space of about a week, Dvořák composed the Terzetto for the amateur ensemble to perform together. As he wrote to his publisher, "...I am writing some bagatelles—just imagine—for two violins and viola, and I enjoy the work as much as if I were writing a large symphony...They are for amateurs, but then didn't Beethoven and Schumann do something similar?"

Written in four movements, the Terzetto begins with an Allegro ma non troppo that oscillates between a charmingly simple main theme and vigorous string writing. After a pensive Larghetto comes a marvelously dramatic, almost Schubertian Scherzo. The concluding finale is a series of variations based on a somewhat ambiguous yet highly effective theme. While it ultimately proved too challenging for its would-be violinists (Dvořák composed a different piece for the group—the Four Miniatures, Op. 75a), the Terzetto remains as a continuing reminder of Dvořák's prowess with chamber music.

Program Notes by Jennifer More ©2018

Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, K. 361 (Gran Partita)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

After ten years in the employ of Archbishop Colloredo in Salzburg, the treatment Mozart received, (he once described the position as that of "valet") and Salzburg's "provincial" attitude towards music led Mozart to seize any opportunity to work elsewhere. The archbishop permitted his frequent leaves of absence only grudgingly. In March of 1781, the archbishop's patience ran out. Mozart, who had already overstayed his leave by several months, was ordered to return to his position immediately. While the composer initially complied, a heated quarrel with the archbishop provoked Mozart to leave his post permanently several months later. As he described the situation to his father in a letter dated May 1781, "In 2 previous audiences [the Archbishop] had said to me already: get out of here if you don't want to serve me properly…Can it be any wonder that finally, after I had been driven completely mad with words like knave, scoundrel, rascal, slovenly fellow, and other such edifying expressions out of the mouth of a prince, I took his get out of here quite literally?" In a single moment, Mozart left the security of Salzburg for the uncertain world of the freelance composer.

It is not known exactly why Mozart composed the Serenade no. 10 in B-Flat Major, "Gran partita," but the work undoubtedly hints at Mozart's new life in Vienna in the 1780s. The Serenade belongs to a category known as Harmoniemusik, music written for a grouping of horns and winds that attempted to capture the sensitive balance of the string quartet. Well suited to performance in the large palaces and gardens of the aristocracy, the Harmonie ensemble was a particular favorite of Emperor Joseph II of Austria, employer of the infamous Salieri and an enthusiastic new patron of Mozart's as well. One of the unique features of the Emperor's ensemble was its quality; he employed only the best musicians from the excellent Burgtheater in Vienna, and was therefore able to entice the virtuoso clarinetist and basset horn player Anton Stadler, a friend of Mozart's, to remain in the city. Although there is no record that Mozart composed the "Gran partita" for the Emperor, its first public performance was given at a benefit concert for Stadler in 1784. As the Wienerblättchen reported, the program featured "a big wind piece of quite an exceptional kind composed by Herr Mozart." One audience member, the playwright Johann Friedrich Schink, later wrote:

I heard music for wind instruments today by Herr Mozart, in four movements, glorious and sublime. It consisted of thirteen instruments; viz. four corni, two oboi, two fagotti, two clarinetti, two basset-corni, a contreviolin, and at each instrument sat a master—Oh what an effect it made—glorious and grand, excellent and sublime.

Although Mozart didn't bestow the subtitle "Gran partita" upon the work, its seven movements transcend the typical boundaries of the genre in a manner that is truly grand. Mozart explores every nuance of instrumental color throughout the work, contrasting solo and ensemble to great effect. In the serenade's slow introduction, for example, muscular chords trade places with gently cascading lines for solo clarinet, and the second and fourth movements, both minuets, reveal equally striking contrasts. The haunting beauty of the Adagio has been used as a symbol of Mozart's unearthly talents; in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, Salieri marvels upon hearing the movement, "What is this pain? What is this need in the sound? Forever unfulfillable, yet fulfilling him who hears it, utterly. I was suddenly frightened. It seemed to me that I had heard a voice of God." In the theme-and-variations sixth movement, Mozart experiments with seemingly endless timbral combinations. The lively Rondo, almost aggressive in its energy, propels the serenade to an unequivocal end.

Program Notes by Jennifer More ©2018