Music #120 -Mozart Masonic Funeral Music

Masonic Funeral Music for orchestra in C minor

- aka 'Maurerische Trauermusik', K.477

As a member of the Freemasons (共济会), Mozart composed this piece, which was performed during a Mosonic service in memory of two of his Masonic brethren.
* Orchestra version

* A cha-cha version - good music, if you do not mind the poor video

Music #119 -Mozart Divertimento K.522

Divertimento for horns & strings in F

- aka 'Ein musikalischer Spass'
or 'A Musical Joke', K.522

Mvt.1 Allegro
Mvt.2 Menuetto - Trio
Mvt.3 Adagio Cantabile
Mvt.4 Presto
 

 Total 21 minutes

EXTRA: Terrible counterpoints explained

Music #118 -Mozart Divertimento K.334

Divertimento No.17 for 2 horns & strings in D major

- K.334

Mvt.1 Allegro
Mvt.2 Andante
Mvt.3 Menuetto - Trio

  ^_^   aka 'Mozart's Menuetto'

Mvt.4 Adagio
Mvt.5 Menuetto
Mvt.6 Rondo Allegro

Totaling 52 minutes

Music #117 -Mozart Divertimento K.251

Divertimento No.11 for oboe, 2 horns & strings in D major

- aka 'Divertimento in D', K.251

"Possibly written for the 'name day' of Mozart's sister Nannerl."

Mvt.1 Molto allegro
Mvt.2 Menuetto
Mvt.3 Andantino
Mvt.4 Menuetto (Tema con variazioni)
Mvt.5 Rondo (Allegro assai)
Mvt.6 Marcia alla francese

Music #116 -Mozart Divertimento K138

Divertimento for string quartet (or string orchestra) in F major
- aka 'Salzburg Symphony No.3', K.138

For string quartet:
Mvt.1
Mvt.3

For string orchestra:
Mvt.1
Mvt.2
Mvt.3

Music #115 -Mozart Divertimento K137

Divertimento for string quartet 

(or string orchestra) in B-flat major
- aka 'Salzburg Symphony No.2', K.137

Mvt.1 Andante
Mvt.2 Allegro di molto
Mvt.3 Allegro assai

Music #114 -Mozart Divertimento K136

Divertimento for string quartet 

(or string orchestra) in D major
- aka 'Salzburg Symphony No.1', K.136

Mvt.1 Allegro
Mvt.2 Andante
Mvt.3 Presto

= = = = =
Note:
Divertimento《嬉游曲》/dɪˌvɜːrtɪˈmɛntoʊ/ is a secular musical genre. Its mood is most often lighthearted and it is generally composed for a small chamber ensemble.

Music #113 -Mozart Serenade No.13

Serenade No.13 for strings in G

- aka 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik' / A Little Night Music《小小夜曲》, K.525

This is the last and the most well-known of Mozart's 13 serenades.  The original second movement (a menuetto) of five was lost; yet the remaining four seem self-sufficient to form a serenade.

"The work is written for a chamber ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello with optional double bass, ..... but is often performed by string orchestras."  

Mvt.1 Allegro 

Mvt.2 Romance: Andante

Mvt.3 Menuetto Allegretto 

Mvt.4 Rondo Allegro 

Music #112 -Mozart Serenade No.11

Serenade No.11 for winds in E-flat major

- for St Theresa's day, K.375

Mvt.1 Allegro maestoso
Mvt.2 Menuetto
Mvt.3 Adagio
Mvt.4&5 Menuetto & Allegro

Music #111 -Mozart Serenade No.10

Serenade No.10 for winds in B-flat major

- aka 'Gran Partita' <大組曲>, K.361

Scored for 12 winds and 1 string bass, it has had its name misspelled; it should have been 'Grand Partita'.

Mvt.1 Largo. Molto Allegro
Mvt.2 Menuetto
Mvt.3 Adagio   ***
Mvt.4 Menuetto. Allegretto
Mvt.5 Romance. Adagio
Mvt.6 Tema con variazioni
Mvt.7 Molto Allegro

*** The third movement was described by Salieri as 'Voice of God' in the Amadeus movie:

“... This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God...”

Music #110 -Mozart Serenade No.9

Serenade No.9 for orchestra in D major
- aka 'Posthorn' serenade, K.320

Mvt.1 Adagio maestoso
Mvt.2 Menuetto-allegretto
Mvt.3 Concertante: andante grazioso
Mvt.4 Rondeau: allegro ma non troppo
Mvt.5 Andantino
Mvt.6 Menuetto - Trio 1 & 2
Mvt.7 Presto

The serenade 'was intended for the university "finalmusik" ceremony' at Salzburg in 1779. The students were enjoying themselves after the final exams.


Stagecoach was public transportation for mails and passengers.

Approaching a post stop, the coachman blew his post horn to notify those at the post; hear Mvt.6 Trio 2.

Music #109 -Mozart Serenade No.7

Serenade No.7 for orchestra in D major

- aka the 'Haffner' Serenade', K.250

Mvt.1 Allegro maestoso-allegro molto
Mvt.2 Andante
Mvt.3 Menuetto
Mvt.4 Rondo-allegro
Mvt.5 Menuetto galante
Mvt.6 Andante
Mvt.7 Menuetto
Mvt.8 Adagio-allegro assai

Haffner was a prominent family in Salzburg, where Mozart was born.

In 1776, Mozart was commissioned to write this serenade for the wedding of Haffner's sister. This serenade was played in the festivities on the eve of the wedding.

Music #108 -Mozart Serenade No.6

Serenade No.6 for orchestra in D major
- aka 'Serenata notturna' (夜曲风小夜曲), K.239


Mvt.1 Marcia (maestoso)
Mvt.2 Minuetto (trio)
Mvt.3 Rondo (allegretto)

= = = = =
Reference: "A serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music."   
          The early serenade was typically sung by a lover to his lady love through a window, or from the street, accompanying himself on a guitar or lute. It was considered an evening piece, to be performed on a quiet and pleasant evening.  

[Source: Wikipedia]

Music #107 -Mozart Symphony No.41

Symphony No.41 

- aka the 'Jupiter' symphony, K.551

- Mozart's last symphony, “Jupiter was the summation of his symphonic development, ending with undiluted orchestral brilliance.”

- Jupiter is the king of the gods in ancient Roman mythology.

Mvt.1 Allegro vivace 
Mvt.2 Andante cantabile 
Mvt.3 Menuetto: Allegretto - Trio 
Mvt.4 Molto allegro: 

 

Sir George Grove wrote, 
"[No.41] is the greatest orchestral work of the world which preceded the French Revolution." 

Mozart composed his 3 final and greatest symphonies (Nos.39-41) in rapid succession in the summer of 1788.

Music #106 -Mozart Symphony No.40

Symphony No.40 

- aka the 'Great G minor symphony', K.550
- "a work of passion, violence and grief"

👍👍👍👍👍

Mozart composed his 3 final and greatest symphonies (Nos.39-41) in rapid succession in the summer of 1788.

Mvt.1 Molto allegro

Mvt.2 Andante
Mvt.3 Menuetto allegretto - Trio
Mvt.4 Allegro assai

= = = = =
Encore:

Mvt.1
* piano duet

 

Music #105 -Mozart Symphony No.39

Symphony No.39 

- K.543

No.39 is happy and bright.

 

Mvt.1 Adagio - Allegro 
Mvt.2 Andante 
Mvt.3 Menuetto 
Mvt.4 Allegro 

Mozart composed his three final and greatest symphonies (Nos. 39-41) in rapid succession in the summer of 1788.

Music #104 -Mozart Symphony No.38

Symphony No.38 

- aka the 'Praque' Symphony, K.504

Prague

"It was premiered in Prague, a few weeks after Le nozze di Figaro opened there."  In Prague, the Marriage of Figaro was a tremendous success, after the same in Vienna.

Mvt.1 Adagio & Allegro
Mvt.2 Andante
Mvt.3 Presto

Music #103 -Mozart Symphony No.36

Symphony No.36 

- aka the 'Linz' Symphony, K.425
 
Mvt.1 Adagio & Allegro spiritoso 
Mvt.2 Poco adagio 
Mvt.3 Menuetto 
Mvt.4 Presto 
 
'Every movement except the minuet is in sonata form.'  

'It was written by Mozart during a stopover in the Austrian town of Linz ... in late 1783.' 
 
(Later, Hitler attended school in this town.)

Music #102 -Mozart Symphony No.35

Symphony No.35 

- aka the 'Haffner' Symphony, K.385

Mvt.1 Allegro con spirito
Mvt.2 Andante
Mvt.3 Menuette
Mvt.4 Presto

Haffner was a prominent family in Salzburg, where Mozart was born.

In 1776, Mozart was commissioned to write a serenade for the wedding of a Haffner daughter. It was Mozart's Serenade No.7 (K250) with 8 movements, popularly known as the 'Haffner Serenade'.

In 1782, Mozart was commissioned again, via his father, to write another serenade (as background music) for the ennoblement of a Haffner son, the Salzburg mayor.

Mozart was busy elsewhere, and Mozart's marriage with Constanze Weber was not quite accepted by his father --- movements by movements the scores were mailed to the father, but seemed not all in time for the ceremony.

In the following spring, Mozart got the scores of the Haffner Serenade No.2 mailed back from his father, and converted into this Haffner Symphony.

Music #101 -Mozart Symphony Nos. 23, 25

Symphony No.25 

- aka the 'Little G minor symphony', K.183/173dB

No. 25 is full of sadness and bitterness, other than some occasional sweet and peaceful atmosphere in mvt. 3 menuetto.

Mvt.1  Allegro con brio

- with an opening Mannheim rocket, an arpeggiated sequence
Mvt.2  Andante
Myt.3  Menuetto & Trio
Mvt.4  Allegro

 score

Movement 1 is widely known as the 
opening music in Amadeus (1984 film)

(after 20 seconds from Prelude of Mozart's Don Giovanni)

Joyful by nature, Mozart has only 2 symphonies in G minor.  The other one is No.40, aka the  'Great G minor symphony'.

Symphony No. 23 

- aka "Overture", K.181/162b
- scoring of 2 oboes, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, and strings

- Mozart wrote the symphony as a single uninterrupted movement consisting of 3 distinct tempi: Allegro spiritoso, Andantino grazioso, Presto assai.

Music #100 -MOZART

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 

[ˈvɔlfɡaŋ amaˈdeus ˈmoːtsaʁt] (1756 – 1791)

The range of Mozart's musical output is extraordinary, and equally accomplished in so many different media. 

* List of compositions

* List of solo piano compositions

* List of concert arias & canons

* But his greatest love was opera (see Set #181-185 in this blog). 

* Mozart was the most brilliant pianist of his age. He took the piano concerto (see Set #121-129) to new heights of richness and virtuosity.

Mozart was the first important composer to attempt to establish a freelance musical career.

= = = = = 

The Amadeus (1984 movie) 

is a lively presentation of Mozart's life story.

Here's a briefing, in Chinese, of the movie.

 

List of music pieces played in The Amadeus (1984 movie):

“March of Welcome” (for Mozart) composed by Salieri 

 - Excerpt from the “Amadeus” (1984 movie)

 

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor granted an audience and an engagement to Mozart. Unworldly Mozart unknowingly offended Salieri in their very first meeting and for the rest of Mozart's short life.

Salieri describing some other masterpieces brought by Mrs Mozart in the movie.

 

(R) 為什麼莫札特的音樂聽起來很悅耳

＝ ＝ ＝ ＝ ＝

Joseph II had quite a miserable ending:  
... In November 1788, [Joseph] returned to Vienna with ruined health, and during 1789, was a dying man. Joseph was left entirely alone. His minister Kaunitz refused to visit his sick-room and did not see him for two years. His brother Leopold remained at Florence. At last, Joseph, worn out and broken-hearted, ... died on 20 February 1790. 
        He is buried in tomb number 42 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. He asked that his epitaph read: "Here lies Joseph II, who failed in all he undertook." Joseph was succeeded by his younger brother Leopold II, who put his priorities on state matters.  Mozart then lost his income from the court and the nobles.

[Source: Wikipedia]

＝ ＝ ＝ ＝ ＝ 

Salzbourg = salt city, a city sitting on salt rocks. That's where Mozart was born and brought up.
        In his 35 years of life, Mozart had more than 600 compositions, which were dispersed all over the places.
        In 1862,Ludwig von Köchel completed assigning a Köchel catalogue number (e.g. K.361) chronologically to every one of Mozart's known works. It has since been repeatedly updated.

[Source: Wikipedia]

＝ ＝ ＝ ＝ ＝

Little Mozart
with his father Leopold
and sister Nanneri

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's parents gave birth to 7 children, but only his elder sister Nannerl and he lived. Amadeus's father Leopold was a gifted musician, and Nannerl a child prodigy. Soon his own gifts surpassed hers. Leopold gave up his career to promote their talents before the astounded royalty and cognoscenti in Europe.

Mozart plays the harpsichord
for King George III, in London

- Giacomo Mantegazza (Italian, 1853–1920)

- (40 x 27 cm) c.1891

- Getty collection

The Mozarts at the Schoenbrunn Palace, Vienna.

The six-year-old prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gave a concert for Empress Maria Theresa in 1762. As recorded by his proud father Leopold Mozart, after the performance ‘Wolferl leapt onto Her Majesty’s lap, flung his arms around her neck and covered her with kisses’

The social status of a court musician was between the valets and the cooks. Never happy at the small court of Salzburg, he left to become one of the first freelance musicians. He arrived in Vienna in 1781.

     Mozart and his wife Constanze gave birth to 6 children, but only 2 lived to adulthood: Carl Thomas (1784-1858), a legal recorder, and Franz Xavier Wolfgang (1791-1844), a music worker. Neither of them got married.
  
Mozart had many various sickness since a little kid. When his father was dying, he was himself sick with flu, whose virus spread to various organs; at the same time, his wife's legs were also sick. He was thus not able to attend to his father's sickness, like his sister Nannerl; neither was he able to attend to his father's funeral. (This is different from the Amadeus movie.) Then, he and his sister fought over his dead father's assets.
  

Researchers have posited at least 118 causes of his death... The most widely accepted hypothesis is that Mozart died of acute rheumatic fever. 
* Dr Jan V Hirschmann's hypothesized that Mozart died of a parasite in the not-well-cooked fried pork and ribs that he consumed; he wrote to his friends about his pork meals, and his symptoms matched with the 50+ day development cycle.
* After 30, Mozart had swollen faces and plain lifeless eyes, which were symptoms of chronic kidney disease.
   
It was said that his funeral was held on a rainy bad-weather day, that turned back the procession members. His lonely corpse was buried in a nameless graveyard (according to Viennese custom?), and could not be located the next day and thereafter. Poor man and poor soul.

= = = = =

BBC - The Genius of Mozart (1 hour per episode)

1 Miracle of Nature
2 A Passion for the Stage
3 The First Romantic

Peter Ustinov presents 2 hours of Mozart Mystique Documentary in 12 episodes.