Lighter Classics Program Notes: Our Favourite Mozart - October 8, 2009 at 8:00 PM

philip.paschke@winspearcentre.com — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Our Favourite Mozart
Robbins Lighter Classics
Enmax Hall, Winspear Centre

Thursday, October 8, 2009 - 8:00 pm
Robert Bernhardt, conductor
Jolaine Kerley, soprano
Soloists from the ESO:
Nora Bumanis, harp
Elizabeth Koch, flute
Michael Massey, piano
Jeremy Spurgeon, organ

Program

Lavallée: O Canada (arr. Gilliland) (1')*

All music by Wolfgang Amadé Mozart

Die Zauberflöte, K.620: Overture (7’)*

Epistle Sonata for Organ No. 17 in C Major, K.336 (5’)*

Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K.550: 1st movement (8’)*

Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major, K.297c/299: 2nd movement (9’)*

Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K.453: 3rd movement (10)*

INTERMISSION (20 minutes)

Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K.525: 1st movement (6’)*

Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622: 3rd movement (8’)*

Le nozze di Figaro, K.492: Overture (5’)*

Le nozze di Figaro, K.492: “Guinse alfin…Deh, vieni non tardar” (3’)*

Exsultate jubilate, K.158a/165: “Alleluia” (3’)*

Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K.551: 4th movement (6’)*

*indicates approximate performance duration

Program Notes

Many of us know that Mozart was perhaps the most famous child prodigy in the history of western music. He was composing barely out of his toddler years, and his talents as a musician made him the tiny toast of European aristocracy.

But beneath that veneer is a man troubled by his early success – a genius whose musical maturity was equalled by an immaturity in nearly every other aspect of his life. He was baptized with the name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus. The first two names were for the saint whose feast day fell on his January 27 birthday. The third name, Wolfgangus (in German, "Wolfgang") was his familiar name. The last one, Theophilus, is Greek for "Love of God." In German, he wrote it as "Gottlieb"; but sometimes he wrote it in French ("Amadé") or even more rarely, in Latin ("Amadeus"). That's where all that business comes from, in case you were wondering.

It was Mozart’s father Leopold, a court musician in the picturesque, if not vitally important, town of Salzburg, who recognized the talent Wolfgang, and his elder sister Maria Anna - known affectionately as Nannerl - possessed. Moreover, Leopold was more than willing to exploit that talent. The two Mozart children traveled the length and breadth of Europe, leaving all in amazement at their prowess. But the experience left Mozart forever scarred. Having seen the richness of the great European courts, Salzburg seemed a hopeless backwater. And having tasted the success his youthful prodigiousness brought him, Mozart spent the rest of his life in futile pursuit of a secure, well-paid position.

For all the young Woflgang had to endure for the sake of music, it is surprising he did not turn away from it. But he embraced it ardently, and before his 13th birthday, he had spent twice as much time “on tour” as he had spent in Salzburg. He was fortunate that the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg was both a music-lover and a patron. But in 1769, that man died, and his replacement was not so inclined to support the Mozarts’ wandering all over Europe. Both father and son were in his employ, after all, and they could not contribute to the musical life of Salzburg if they were always away.

Italian operas were one sure path to success for an emerging composer, and early triumphs with his operas Ascanio (1771) and Lucio Silla (1772) brought young Wolfgang to Italy, where his father had hopes of landing him a position in an Italian court. It was on this trip that the motet Exsultate, jubilate, written in an Italian operatic style, was composed. It is certainly the most often-performed of his early vocal works.

In 1778, Mozart arrived in Paris and, as he had with several of his concertos, he wrote one on order for a wealthy family which boasted a number of very gifted musicians. Adrien-Louis Bonnières de Souastre Comtes de Guines played the flute, Mozart wrote, “incomparably,” while the Count’s daughter was an equally gifted harpist. Mozart’s unique Concerto for Flute and Harp is a charming, breezy work.

Back in Salzburg the following year, Mozart produced some of his finest sacred works, including the “Coronation” Mass, and the Missa solemnis. Written to accompany the latter was one of two Epistle Sonatas he composed for organ and strings.

1781 was a profoundly important one for Mozart. The chip on his shoulder towards Salzburg had become a plank, further aggravated by what he felt was ill treatment by the Archbishop. That same year, his serious opera Idomeneo premiered, and bent on seeking his fortune, Mozart left Salzburg for good, settling in Vienna. The next year, much against his father’s wishes, he married Constanze Weber. The remaining ten years of Mozart’s life saw him struggle to maintain a living. He gave subscription concerts, premiering one amazing piano concerto after another. He composed operas – some met with little success, some were smash hits. He continued to accept commissions when he could, and he gave lessons. But in any case, his ability to manage money was disastrous. If he had it, he spent it, or gave it away. If he did not, he constantly turned to friends for loans.

In the spring of 1784, Mozart wrote a number of piano concertos for his talented 18-year-old student, Barbara Ployer. One of them, in G Major, K.453, was presented by her that summer. The next year brought Mozart together with the gifted librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. Three of Mozart’s finest operas resulted from this collaboration, the first of which was Le nozze di Figaro (“The Marriage of Figaro”), which premiered in May 1786, and was one of the greatest successes Mozart had during his lifetime.

The work known as Eine kleine Nachtmusik (“A little night music”) is, now, one of the most instantly recognizable works in all of music. But at the time he wrote it, Mozart thought he had long done with writing such works. It is a serenade – the kind of light evening’s entertainment he had written frequently for rich Salzburg families – and we do not know for whom this most famous work was written. We know he finished it on August 10, 1787, so it was likely for someone’s summer party.

In what must surely be regarded as one of the greatest bursts of creativity in the history of art, Mozart wrote his final three symphonies in about six weeks during the summer of 1788. This achievement is all the more remarkable because each of the symphonies is decidedly different in character, layout, and dramatic feel from its fellows; and because each was a significant advance in the symphony as a form. Symphony No. 40, the second of the three, is cast in G minor, lending its opening movement’s buoyant Allegro an intriguing dark shadow. The finale of the 41st Symphony, nicknamed after the head of the Roman gods, is a grand movement in which the main theme is cast in a fugue – a form better known 60 years earlier, but made a bold and remarkably progressive move here.

Mozart’s last works were nearly all remarkable, and all were written as his health began to seriously decline. His opera Die Zauberflöte (“The Magic Flute”), premiered in 1791 – only three months before his death - combines rather madcap comedic elements with a serious story of perseverance and brotherhood – with many Masonic trappings along the way (Mozart had become a Freemason several years before). His final concerto was written, not for piano for himself to play, but for clarinet, inspired by the gifted clarinetist Anton Stadler, who ignited a fire in the ailing composer which resulted in several new works for that instrument, including the famous Clarinet Concerto.

Mozart died on December 6, 1791, only weeks before his 36th birthday. Constanze proved herself a fairly canny woman of business following his death, and continued to have his music published, and in some cases, incomplete works were finished by others. His genius became widely known in the years after his burial in a commoner’s grave, and his place as one of the most gifted musical geniuses has never waned. He left us a trove of musical masterpieces, which, as recent headlines tell us, are still being discovered.

Program Notes © 2009 D.T. Baker

Program notes © 2009 by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and its respective annotators. All Rights Reserved. Program notes may not be printed in their entirety without the written consent of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra; excerpts may be quoted if due acknowledgment is given to the author and to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. For reprint permission, contact D.T. Baker, Music Resource, by email, dave.baker@winspearcentre.com.

These notes appear in galley files prepared for Signature magazine, official publication of the ESO, and may contain typographical or other errors, or may differ from the final print version. Programs and artists subject to change without notice.

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