Concert I Program Notes

by Robert Hurwitz

The contredanse was the most popular French dance of the 18th century. Its development stems from the English country dance, which was introduced at the French court in the 1680s. The jollity and the freshness of the contredanse pattern appealed to the younger generation, and in response French dancing-masters soon began composing dances in the English style. The popularity of the contredanse also spread to Germany and Austria, where it was taken up by the likes of Mozart and Beethoven. Examples by Mozart appear in several sets of contredanses. The contredanse style also influences some of Mozart's serious works, including the finales of several of his string quartets and quintets.

The Serenade K.101 is a brief work most likely composed in Salzburg in 1776. The undated manuscript is made up of four contredanses, marked Gavotte, Andantino, Presto and Gavotte. The score includes the word Ständchen (Serenade) written on the title page by Mozart's father, Leopold, who was also responsible for writing out most of the first violin part of the manuscript.

Mozart wrote more music for the solo flute than any other major composer. There are two solo concertos, a third for flute and harp, four quartets for flute and strings, and the possibly spurious Sinfonia Concertante for flute, oboe, bassoon and horn. Most of this music dates from 1777–78, during which time the young composer undertook a journey, with his mother, to Munich, Mannheim and Paris. The trip, on the whole, was unproductive and disappointing, with no lucrative offers of employment to free Mozart from the drudgery of the archbishop's employ at home in Salzburg. In Mannheim, where the composition of most of these works took place, Mozart's pace was unusually slow. Perhaps his mood was affected by the lack of opportunity he found. He surely was at times morose and angry over his situation. In a letter to his father on the fourth of February 1778, Mozart complained that the Dutch flutist De Jean, who had commissioned him to write most of these works, was becoming impatient with the composer's progress. Mozart, who otherwise had kind things to say for the flute, protested "...you know that I become quite powerless when I am obliged to write for an instrument which I cannot bear."

The first of Mozart's flute concertos was completed early in 1778. Given the young composer's professed dislike for the flute, the work shows no signs of aversion. The first movement is gracious and light, despite the possibly tongue-in-cheek marking of Allegro maestoso (Italian for "majestic"). The Adagio non troppo, which replaces the oboes of the outer movements with two orchestral flutes, is the richest and most beautiful movement in either of Mozart's two flute concertos. It is such a personal and individual statement that it reportedly caused De Jean no end of difficulty in understanding it. Indeed, the Dutchman ultimately had the movement replaced by a simpler one, the Andante in C major (K.315). The finale is a graceful rondo in minuet style of the type Mozart was fond of including in many of his early concertos. Despite its leisurely pace, the flute is called upon to demonstrate considerable agility, and good spirits prevail all the way to the quiet and understated final cadence.

The "Jupiter" was the last of the incredible trilogy of symphonies written by Mozart in the summer of 1788. Nobody knows why Mozart produced this last group of symphonic masterpieces, nor do we have any knowledge that any of them were performed in his lifetime. Likewise, we do not know who assigned the name of a Roman god to the work, highly appropriate to its content though the name "Jupiter" may be.

The Symphony No. 41 is written in Mozart's "grand" style, employing flute, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani. The first movement opens with a martial motive played by the full orchestra, to which the strings immediately respond with a gentle figure. Both figures are then masterfully developed into a remarkable primary theme, in which the strong opening and gentle response are held in perfect balance. The appearance of a lovely and delicate subsidiary theme sets the stage for a satisfying and perfectly balanced movement in sonata form.

The andante cantabile combines a singing lyricism with a long, seemingly never-ending melodic line to produce an extraordinarily unified piece. The Minuet and Trio present both a contrast to the other movements, and a dependence on them for some of their basic musical motives.

The finale has always received the greatest admiration. It is a superbly crafted sonata-form movement that is at the same time highly contrapuntal and fugue-like. In the famous coda, all five themes are interwoven in writing of unique skill, and the movement ends, as does the entire symphony, on a true note of triumph.