Kegelstatt Trio | |
---|---|
Piano trio by W. A. Mozart | |
Key | E♭ major |
Catalogue | K. 498 |
Composed | 5 August 1786 : Vienna |
Dedication | Franziska von Jacquin |
Published | 1788 Vienna : |
Movements | three |
Scoring |
The Kegelstatt Trio, K. 498, is a piano trio for clarinet, viola and piano in E-flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Mozart wrote the piano trio on 10 sheets (19 pages) [1] in Vienna and dated the manuscript on 5 August 1786. [2] According to Mozart's 17-year-old student Karoline Pichler, the work was dedicated to another student of Mozart's, Franziska von Jacquin; Mozart and the von Jacquin family – father Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin and his youngest son Gottfried – were quite close friends. [3] They performed house concerts together, where Nikolaus played the flute and Franziska the piano. [4] In a letter to Gottfried from 15 January 1787, Mozart praises Franziska's studiousness and diligence. [4] Mozart dedicated a number of works to the von Jacquin family. One year later, Mozart wrote two Lieder, " Als Luise die Briefe ihres ungetreuen Liebhabers verbrannte " (K. 520) and " Das Traumbild " (K. 530) explicitly for Gottfried von Jacquin to use under his own name.
The German word Kegelstatt means "a place where skittles are played", akin to a duckpin bowling alley. Mozart wrote that he composed 12 Duos for Two Horns (not 2 violins as once thought, or basset horns as was commonly thought), K. 487, "while playing skittles"; [5] on the first page of the autograph manuscript of K. 487, Mozart inscribed the following: "Wienn den 27.t Jullius 1786 untern Kegelscheiben" (Vienna, 27 July 1786 while playing skittles). [6] A week and a half later, Mozart composed and dated the trio E♭ K. 498. He entered this work into his list of compositions simply as: "Ein Terzett für klavier, Clarinett und Viola" [7] (A trio for piano, clarinet and viola). There is no evidence that Mozart gave any nickname to the K. 498 trio; the moniker Kegelstatt first appears ascribed to the K. 498 trio in Ludwig von Köchel's 1862 thematic catalogue of Mozart's music. [4]
This clarinet–viola–piano trio was first played in the von Jacquin's house; Anton Stadler played clarinet, Mozart the viola, and Franziska von Jacquin the piano. [4] The clarinet was still a relatively new instrument in Mozart's time, and this trio, along with his Clarinet Quintet and Clarinet Concerto (the latter two for basset clarinets in A), helped increase the instrument's popularity.
The trio was published in 1788 by Artaria, transcribed – probably with Mozart's consent – for violin, viola and piano, and the original clarinet part was described as an "alternative part": La parte del Violino si può eseguire anche con un Clarinetto. Due to this unusual scoring, the piece is sometimes adapted to fit other types of trios; e.g. a clarinet–violin–piano trio, a violin–cello–piano trio, a clarinet–cello–piano trio, or a violin–viola–piano trio, as in that first publication by Artaria. [7]
No composer before Mozart had written for this combination of instruments. [4] In the 19th century Robert Schumann wrote Märchenerzählungen (Op. 132), Max Bruch in 1910 "Eight pieces for clarinet, viola, and piano" (Op. 83) and Carl Reinecke "Trio for piano, clarinet and viola" (Op. 246).
In March 1894 the manuscript came into the possession of the musicologist and composer Charles Théodore Malherbe when he bought it from Leo Sachs, a banker in Paris, who had bought it from Johann Anton André who bought it as part of a large purchase of manuscripts from Mozart's widow Constanze (the Mozart Nachlass) in 1841. In 1912 it was donated to the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département de la Musique, Malherbe collection, Ms 222. [8]
The manuscript notes the clarinet part as "Clarinetto in B" and uses the written pitch. The viola part uses the C-clef in the alto position. The labelling of the piano part shows a correction by Mozart where he started to write "Ce" (for "cembalo", the Italian word for the harpsichord) and then replaced it with "Piano forte". However, this part is labelled "Cembalo" for the second and third movements. The key signature of E♭ major in Mozart's late chamber music indicates close friendship. [9]
The trio consists of three movements:
The first movement is not the more traditional Allegro as an opening movement, but a more contemplative Andante. Following on from this, the second movement is of course not the traditional slow movement, but a moderate Menuetto, and the last movement, while lively, is not the standard Allegro. In short, the contrasts in tempo in this trio are not as stark as in most piano trios.
The Andante is written in the time signature of 6
8 time and consists of 129 bars; a typical performance would last just over six minutes. It repeats neither its exposition nor the remainder of the movement, which is unusual for Mozart's mature chamber music. [10] A particularly recognizable feature of this movement's principal theme is the gruppetto (turn) which appears 67 times. [11]
The second movement is written in 3
4 time and consists of 158 bars, almost all of which are repeated; a typical performance would last about six minutes. The key signature of this movement is B♭ major, the dominant key to E♭ from the first movement.
The opening menuetto of this movement consists of the exposition of a four-bar theme (bars 1–12, repeated), and its development (bars 13–41, also repeated). The piano's pounding bass line and sharp dynamic contrasts set the mood of this theme apart from any conventional light and frilly notions of a Minuet. During the development, the dialogue between the instruments becomes intensified, and Mozart shows his grasp of counterpoint without ever sounding academic or "learned".
The following trio opens with a chromatic four-note phrase, to which the viola responds with a run of lively triplets, accompanied by chromatic chords from the piano (bars 42–62, repeated). In the development of that theme, the four-note phrase and the lively triplets are then taken up by the piano, and clarinet and viola present some chromatically rising lines, before all three instruments start a concerto-like conversation where the 4-note phrase is only heard twice in the piano left hand (bars 63–94, repeated).
The final part of the trio starts with a variation of the trio's four-note phrase, which is briefly developed (bars 95–102) before returning to the brighter theme of the Menuetto whose treatment ends the movement without repeats.
The last movement is written in the time signature of cut common time (or alla breve, similar to 2
2) [12] and consists of 222 bars; a typical performance would last eight and a half minutes. The key signature, as is conventional, is the same as the opening movement, E-flat major. The musical format of this movement is a seven-part rondo, a rarity in Mozart's work; this seven-part structure also explains the title Rondeaux, the French plural form of Rondeau.
The structure is AB–AC–AD–A. Theme A is an eight-bar cantabile melody in two parts, drawn from the first movement and presented first by the clarinet, then taken up as a variation by the piano (bars 1–16). The melody of theme B – in B♭ major – is played once by the clarinet (bars 17–24) before the piano plays an intermezzo of several bars. From bar 36 onwards, all three instruments play short phrases of that theme in turn, followed by a piano solo until bar 50. Theme C – in C minor – is presented by the viola and repeated (bars 67–76); all three instruments develop that theme in bars 77–90 (repeated). This development visits the subdominant minor scale (vi) of F minor before ending in the relative key of C minor. Theme D – in A♭ major – is introduced in bar 116 by all three instruments almost in unison, and elaborately developed in bars 132–153 (repeated). In contrast to the previous development, this goes through the subdominant major scale (VI) of A-flat major. [13] With the playful coda of bars 191 to 222, Mozart concludes the composition, "that does not merely satisfy the listener, but leaves him enchanted!" [14]
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). The German title means "a little night music". The work is written for an ensemble of two violins, viola, cello and double bass, but is often performed by string orchestras. The serenade is one of Mozart's most famous works.
The piece of music once known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 2 in B♭ major, K. 17, is now considered to be not by him, but by possibly his father, Leopold Mozart. This symphony has been given the number Anhang C 11.02 in the sixth edition of Ludwig Ritter von Köchel's catalogue of Mozart's music, and is now also catalogued as Eisen B♭ 6 in Cliff Eisen's catalogue of Leopold Mozart's symphonies. It was written for 2 oboes, 2 horns in B♭, and a string section.
Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 5 in B♭ major, D. 485, was written mainly in September 1816 and completed on 3 October 1816. It was finished six months after the completion of his previous symphony.
The Symphony No. 39 in E♭ major of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 543, was completed on 26 June 1788.
Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385, also known as the Haffner Symphony, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782. It was commissioned by the Haffners, a prominent Salzburg family, for the occasion of the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner the Younger. The Haffner Symphony should not be confused with the eight-movement Haffner Serenade, another piece Mozart wrote on commission from the same family in 1776.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Clarinet Quintet, K. 581, was written in 1789 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler. A clarinet quintet is a work for one clarinet and a string quartet. Although originally written for basset clarinet, in contemporary performances it usually is played on a clarinet in A. It is Mozart's only completed clarinet quintet and is one of the earliest and best-known works, written especially for the instrument. It remains to this day one of the most admired of the composer's works. Sometimes the quintet is referred to as the Stadler Quintet; Mozart so described it in a letter of April 1790. Mozart also wrote a trio for clarinet, viola, and piano for Stadler, the so-called Kegelstatt Trio, in 1786. Stadler was a friend to Mozart who was very talented in the instrument.
The Piano Concerto No. 22 in E♭ major, K. 482, is a work for piano, or fortepiano, and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composed in December 1785.
The Divertimento in E♭ major, K. 563, is a string trio, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1788, the year in which he completed his last three symphonies and his "Coronation" Piano Concerto. It is his last divertimento and different from his other divertimenti not only in its instrumentation but also in its compositorial ambition and scope.
The Serenade No. 10 for winds in B-flat major, K. 361/370a, is a serenade by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart scored for thirteen instruments: twelve winds and string bass. The piece was probably composed in 1781 or 1782 and is often known by the subtitle Gran Partita, though the title is a misspelling and not in Mozart's hand. It consists of seven movements.
The Quintet in E♭ major for Piano and Winds, K. 452, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on March 30, 1784 and premiered two days later at the Imperial and Royal National Court Theater in Vienna. Shortly after the premiere, Mozart wrote to his father that "I myself consider it to be the best thing I have written in my life." It is scored for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon.
A clarinet–viola–piano trio, often titled "Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano" is a work of chamber music that is scored for clarinet, viola, and piano; or is the designation for a musical ensemble of a group of three musicians playing these instruments. This combination of instruments differs from other combinations, as the viola and the clarinet share approximately the same musical range, but not the same tone quality.
The String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406/516b, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola. Unlike his other string quintets, however, the work was not originally written for strings. Having completed the two string quintets K. 515 and K. 516, Mozart created a third by arranging his Serenade No. 12 for Winds in C minor K. 388/384a, written in 1782 or 1783 as a string quintet. Although by then Mozart was entering each new work into his catalogue of compositions, he did not enter this quintet, perhaps because it was an arrangement rather than a new work.
Symphony No. 6 in F major, K. 43, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1767. According to Alfred Einstein in his 1937 revision of the Köchel catalogue, the symphony was probably begun in Vienna and completed in Olomouc, a Moravian city to which the Mozart family fled to escape a Viennese smallpox epidemic; see Mozart and smallpox.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's set of six sonatas for keyboard and violin, K. 26–31 were composed in early 1766 in The Hague during the Mozart family's grand tour of Europe. They were dedicated to Princess Caroline of Nassau-Weilburg on the occasion of the eighteenth birthday of her brother, William V, Prince of Orange. They were published as Mozart's Opus 4.
The six string quartets, K. 168–173, were composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in late 1773 in Vienna. These are popularly known as the Viennese Quartets. Mozart may have hoped to have them published at the time, but they were published only posthumously by Johann André in 1801 as Mozart's Op. 94.
The Piano Sonata in B-flat major, K. 498a, is a piano sonata in four movements. It was first printed in 1798 by P. J. Thonus in Leipzig on behalf of Breitkopf & Härtel and attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; an edition printed in c. 1805 already credited it as opus 26 of the Thomascantor August Eberhard Müller (1767–1817). Some publications still attribute it to Mozart, often as Piano Sonata No. 20.
The Divertimento No. 17 in D major, K. 334/320b was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart between 1779 and 1780 and was possibly composed for commemorating the graduation of a close friend of Mozart's, Georg Sigismund Robinig, from his law studies at the University of Salzburg in 1780. Lasting about 42 minutes, it is the longest of the divertimenti by Mozart.
The Sonata in C major for piano four-hands, K. 521, is a piano sonata in three movements composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. It was his last complete piano duet sonata for one piano, four hands. This sonata consists of three movements: Allegro, Andante and Allegretto.
"Das Traumbild", K. 530, is a song, or Lied, for piano and voice by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a poem by Ludwig Hölty.