Violin Concertos by Mozart

On August 21, 1772, the 16-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was appointed by the Salzburg Archbishop Colloredo as leader in his orchestra, with an annual salary of 150 florins. During the next few years, Mozart wrote the majority of his concertante works for violin and orchestra, starting with the Violin Concerto in B flat, K. 207 (1773) and the Concertone for 2 Violins, Oboe, Cello and Orchestra, K. 190 (1774). This was followed in 1775 by the four other violin concertos (in D, K. 211; in G, K. 216; in D, K. 218 and in A, K. 219). Somewhat later, in the summer or autumn of 1779, he composed the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, K. 364. Finally, there are three more short concertante movements, which also more or less date from this period: an Adagio in E, K. 261 (1776), a Rondo in B flat, K. 269 (1775-1777) and a Rondo in C (1781).
Although at this period in his life the violin was clearly his instrument, it is not clear whether Mozart was in fact writing the concertos as a personal performance vehicle. One of the few surviving letters, in which the composer mentions a violin concerto, was written in Augsburg in 1777. During this journey, Mozart was celebrated as a violinist. Among other works, he performed a violin concerto by his colleague Johann Baptist Vanhall: "I conducted a Sinfonia and played Vanhall's Concerto in B flat on the violin to general acclaim." But one of his own violin concertos, the so-called Strassburg Concerto, was also on the programme: "That night at supper I played the Strassburg Concerto; it went like clockwork; everyone praised my beautiful, clean tone." But that is about all Mozart ever wrote about his own performance as a violinist. The fact that he wrote alternative movements for two concertos demonstrates that his violin concertos were also performed by others than himself (such as his Salzburg colleague Antonio Brunetti).
The three violin concertos composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart between October 12 and December 20, 1775, were probably planned as (part of) a cycle. This is demonstrated not just by the fact that the composition dates of these works follow each other so closely, but also by the systematic planning of the keys - G major, D major and A major; or, in other words, the open strings of the violin. Furthermore, the last movement of each of the three concertos is a French Rondeau.
Strangely enough, it appears that Mozart lost all interest in the genre after writing his Concerto in A. The following year, he was also to write a type of violin concerto in his Haffner Serenade K. 250, but that was it: Mozart then hung up his violin. From that moment onwards, the piano was his preferred instrument. By the way, this caused his father, Leopold, great displeasure. He often admonished his son with phrases such as: "Du weisst selbst nicht, wie gut Du Violin spielst..." (= you have no idea how well you play the violin).
Although on the whole Mozart's letters provide an excellent insight into his life and thoughts, it is completely unclear why he suddenly lost interest in the violin. Was it perhaps a case of adolescent rebellion against an authoritarian father? Or did Mozart associate the violin too closely with the oppressive Salzburg court or with Archbishop Colloredo, who all of a sudden fired the young composer in August 1777? Perhaps the reason for this was far simpler, and the young composer simply fell under the spell of a new toy: the fortepiano. The letters that Mozart sent home from Augsburg in November 1777 point in the latter direction. Whereas he still writes about his violin playing in the letter quoted above, the other letters he sent from Augsburg provide passionate reports on the new pianofortes, built by Johann Andreas Stein, from which Mozart was able to coax an unprecedented range of expressions.

Galante style
The Violin Concerto in B flat, K. 207, is dated April 14, 1773, making it the earliest solo concerto to appear in the catalogue of Mozart's works. After all, he did not write his first Piano Concerto, K. 175, until the December of that year, and his Serenade K. 185 (which contains concertante movements with violin solo) dates from the previous August. This date of composition means that Mozart wrote the concert a month after he returned from his concert travels to Italy. Undoubtedly, the impressions he received of the style of Italian violin virtuosos such as Pietro Nardini and Gaetano Pugnani were at the root of his desire to write his own violin concerto. Thus, both outer movements of this concert give the soloist the opportunity to carry out virtuoso acrobatics, whereas the middle movement is written in the so-called 'empfindsamer Stil' (= sensitive style) and is characterised by a simple cantabile line-play, which was the ultimate for a violinist, according to Leopold Mozart. Leopold wrote the following of a violinist in the Mannheim orchestra: "Er spielt schwer, aber man kennt nicht, dass es schwer ist... und das ist das Wahre", (= he plays with difficulty, but people do not realize that it is difficult.. and that is the truth of it).
After this, the Violin Concerto in D, K. 211, which is dated June 14, 1775, seems almost like a step backwards. The work radiates an atmosphere of elegant court music, just as we encounter in the serenades. On the whole, the solo violin is accompanied by the high strings, and weaves elegant figures around the themes presented by the orchestra. As is fitting with this style, the development of the first movement concentrates mainly on the harmony, and in general Mozart leaves the themes alone. The slow movement is again a cantabile, which could easily have "escaped" from an opera. A graceful Rondeau with two episodes ends this concerto.

Opera senza parole
As far as Mozart was concerned, the instrumental solo concerto was closely related to the operatic aria. This is apparent from the numerous oratorical figures which turn up especially in his piano concertos, such as the recitative-like passages in the slow movements, with the first – and most beautiful – example in the famous Jeunehomme Concerto K. 271 dating from 1777. Furthermore, it is not so much Mozart's symphonies as his piano concertos and operas which demonstrate the development of his style of writing for the orchestra. One of the most remarkable facts here is that Mozart continued to develop in the opening movements of his solo concertos the thematic structures and proportions he had previously employed in his early opere serie. He also applied the principles of rhetoric to instrumental music.

Pastoral concerto
The violin concertos in G and D contain many theatrical elements. Thus Mozart's Violin Concerto in G, K. 216 – completed on September 12, 1775 – begins with an orchestral ritornello, which directly quotes the aria "Aer tranquillo". This was taken from his serenata Il Re Pastore, which had received its première earlier that year on April 23. In this aria, the protagonist from the opera, the shepherd Aminta – unaware of his royal descent – sings of his love of rural life. It would not be too far-fetched to state that the simplicity and aristocratic air of the violin concerto is similar to that of the aria. Another remarkable fact is the greater independent role played in this concerto by the wind instruments, and especially by the oboes – which from time immemorial have been considered "pastoral" instruments. Furthermore, the short recitative played by the solo violin just before the recapitulation sounds like a "refugee" from an opera.
The pastoral character of this concerto also continues into the second movement. Here, the oboes have been replaced by flutes and the violins con sordino are supported by pizzicati in the double-basses. The well-known Mozart-connoisseur Alfred Einstein justly characterised this movement as "ein Adagio, das direkt vom Himmel gefallen zu sein scheint."
The concluding Rondeau is interrupted by a section in 2/2 time which assumes the character of a French gavotte. This is followed by a waggish melody with a bagpipe-like bourdon accompaniment "a la musette". According to some experts, this is a quote from a popular song known as the Strassburger and this was the concerto performed by Mozart in Augsburg in 1777.

Searching for the Strassburg Concerto
Not only the Violin Concerto in G, but also the Violin Concert in D, K. 218 can lay a claim to the title of Strassburg Concerto. This concerto, which Mozart completed in October 1775, has a far more virtuoso and festive character. The music bears clear traces of the Italian violin tradition of Pietro Nardini, Gaetano Pugnani and Antonio Vivaldi, whose works Mozart must have known and probably also performed. The violin part is restricted to the higher registers, and even soars to the d'''' in the finale: the highest note ever demanded by Mozart in his violin concertos.
The first movement begins with a dotted martial motif, which regularly appeared at the beginning of a concerto and was known in Mozart's day as the "Mannheimer Orchestervorhang". The curtain rises: the – instrumental – opera begins. The structural innovations in this concerto catch the eye. For instance, the violin starts off the development in B minor before returning to the main key, and the recapitulation begins with the second phrase of the solo violin. The slow movement is written in sonata form; however, it lacks the development. The coda was added later by the composer.
Once again, it is the final movement – Rondeau: Andante grazioso – which gives rise to speculation. Mozart alternates between passages in 2/4 and 6/8 time. In the middle, he inserts a new Andante grazioso, this time in 2/2 time. Here too, he quotes from a folk melody with an accompaniment "a la musette", which also appears in one of the symphonies of Mozart's colleague Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, entitled Ballo Strasburghese. In that case, perhaps the Strassburg concerto about which Mozart wrote was not the concerto in G, but this concerto in D? We will never know. Nevertheless, this is clearly a quote from a highly popular melody. After all, Mozart also used it in the second of his Two Contradances, K. 269b, which he probably wrote that year for Count Czernin. As a rule, this kind of dance was written for the festivities held during carnival season, and composers liked to base the dances on immediately recognizable melodies.
The use of a motif from the Mannheim school and the French character of the last movement indicate Mozart's sublime gift for charming his audiences. It so happened that Mozart brought his violin concerto on the lengthy journey he undertook in the autumn of 1777, which led him to Paris via Mannheim. Thus, he must have deliberately gambled on audiences appreciating his subtle allusions to their own musical traditions.

Turkish concerto
The Violin Concerto in A, K. 219, dates from December 20, 1775. The work begins with an orchestral introduction, which acts as a kind of operatic overture, after which the curtain rises and the soloist presents himself with a dreamy adagio passage with new thematic material. The slow movement, Adagio, is written in E major – a key not so often encountered in Mozart's oeuvre – and achieves an unprecedented profundity in dialogue between the soloist and orchestra. As mentioned, the last movement is once again a Rondeau in minuet tempo. The middle section is a so-called alla turca, in which the low strings imitate col legno (= with the wood of the bow) the rod-beaten drum used in the Ottoman Janissary bands. This kind of music was incredibly popular in Austria, and Mozart took advantage of this popularity in a large number of works. He derived the musical material of this passage from the ballet Le gelosie del serraglio, which was situated in a Turkish harem (K. A109) and written for a performance of his opera Lucio Silla. It is doubtful whether Mozart himself was the composer of this ballet music, as the ballet music in an opera was often written by other composers.
Only two-and-a-half years lie between Mozart's two early violin concertos and this last one, but the development in style of composition is remarkable. The concertos in B-flat minor and D major share the galante style of the Salzburg serenades. Some of these serenades contain a miniature violin concerto. And we know that at least on one occasion one of Mozart's violin concertos was performed in combination with a serenade. Leopold Mozart writes that the violinist Andrä Kolb performed a so-called Finalmusik (one of the longer serenades) by Mozart, as well as one of his violin concertos, in the Mayr family garden on the evening of July 9, 1778.
In contrast, the Violin Concerto in A is a 'mature' solo concerto, in which the dialogue between soloist and orchestra is far more detailed. From here it was just a small step to the first 'major' piano concerto: the Jeunehomme Concerto dating from January 1777, which was revolutionary in many respects.

Substitutes
Mozart was not easily satisfied. He often spent quite some time perfecting his compositions, or adapting them to the demands and technical prowess of a certain musician. He did this in his operas as well – for instance, in Idomeneo, for which he wrote an entirely new version with extra arias for a performance in Vienna. But on occasion he would also substitute entire movements in his solo concertos. He wrote the Adagio in E, K. 261, in 1776, probably at the request of the Salzburg leader Antonio Brunetti, to replace the slow movement of the Violin Concerto in E, K. 219. Perhaps he also wrote his Rondo in B flat, K. 269, for Brunetti, as a replacement for the finale of the Violin Concerto K. 207, which was also written in that key.

Rondo
There is no evidence to relate the Rondo in C, K. 373 with one of Mozart's own violin concertos; therefore, it is more probable that Mozart intended the work to be an independent concert rondo. Brunetti played the composition on April 8, 1781 during an Academy in the residence of Prince Rudolph Joseph Colloredo, the father of the Salzburg archbishop who gave Mozart such a hard time.

Fun for two
The genre of the sinfonia concertante – which was usually written as a three-movement work, in which a number of soloists enter into a dialogue with the orchestra – was hugely popular for a short while. No less than 500 works in this genre have come down to us, of which the majority were written between 1770 and 1830. The generally light-hearted and amusing character of most of these works is most striking. Mozart probably first came into contact with the sinfonia concertante on his trip to Paris in 1777/1778: perhaps during the journey itself in Mannheim, where mostly concertantes with solo wind instruments were being written, and otherwise certainly in Paris, where Ignaz Pleyel – among others – was enjoying great success with his concertantes. If the Sinfonia Concertante K. 297b for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and orchestra is indeed by Mozart, then he must have written this work for his friends in Mannheim. However, the authenticity of this work is debatable. It has definitely been established that Mozart began work on a composition for violin, viola and orchestra upon his return to Salzburg, at a time when he was in fact losing interest in the violin. Was this Sinfonia Concertante perhaps a commission for a special occasion? This seems the obvious conclusion, as a fragment of 134 bars has also come down to us, from the first movement of another Sinfonia Concertante in A, for violin, viola, cello and orchestra.
Thus the Sinfonia Concertante in E flat is Mozart's only authentic contribution to this genre. And what a contribution it is! Alas, we remain largely in the dark with regard to the background of this masterpiece. Mozart does not mention it in his letters; there are no other documents referring to this work; and what remains of the manuscript is incomplete and also contains parts of various 'previous versions' of the work.
Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante forms a lonely highlight in the genre. The work is of symphonic dimensions, yet is also a full-blooded double concerto. As in his violin concertos, here Mozart treats both solo strings like singers in a scene from an opera. The slow movement, especially, could easily be a duet from one of his operas.
Furthermore, the Sinfonia Concertante is the only concerto composed by Mozart for the viola, the instrument he himself loved to play. His vast understanding of the instrument is apparent from the key he chose: as the viola part is written in D, the instrumentalist needs to tune his instrument half a tone higher (scordatura), producing a more transparent sound, which mixes better with that of the violin. It also means that the violist is able to make use of more open strings, which almost automatically lifts the sound above that of the orchestra.
A remarkable feature is that Mozart regularly employs a serious tone in the work, which is contrary to the light-hearted character of the genre. Compared to the five violin concertos written four years previously, this work is far more mature. Then again, a lot had happened during those four years. Mozart's journey to Paris had ended in disappointment; furthermore, he had lost his mother in the French capital; then he had fallen head over heels for Aloysia Weber, who unfortunately did not reciprocate his feelings. On his way home, he wrote as follows to his father: "Ich habe ein gar zu empfindsames Herz" (= my heart is far too sensitive), a line which could have come straight from Goethe's book "Das Leiden des jungen Werthers". Although Mozart probably had not read this novel, written five years previously, it is tempting to recognize a similar melancholy and 'Empfindsamkeit' in the slow movement of the Sinfonia Concertante. The soloists sing a duet against the background of an obscure-sounding orchestra (with divided violas). At times they comment on each others' words, at others they sing together in consonant intervals. During the third movement, all melancholy disappears as if by magic. In this work too, Mozart avoids the minor key. At a certain moment, when the music threatens to change to the key of C minor, he suddenly breaks off and shamelessly permits the viola to continue in the key of A flat. Instead of a cadenza, this movement ends with a passage in which each soloist shoots up, in turn, like a rocket to the highest register: an effect that Haydn was to imitate in his own Sinfonia Concertante dating from 1792.

Concertone
The trunk which Mozart took with him on his journey to Mannheim and Paris probably also contained another work, which is closely related to the Sinfonia Concertante: the Concertone for two violins, oboe, cello and orchestra. In the development of the concertante forms, the concertone is ranked in between the concerto grosso and the sinfonia concertante. The genre was mainly intended as light entertainment, and the soloists are not expected to perform any virtuoso antics. In Austria and in the north of Italy, the concertone flourished for a short period, but apart from Mozart's compositions, few other concertones have come down to us. However, Leopold Mozart used the title 'concertone' when referring to certain compositions by Mozart's colleague, Josef Myslivecek. It is interesting that the manuscript of the Concertone is part of a collection of three bundles of manuscripts which were compiled by Leopold Mozart, and came into the possession of the publisher August Cranz via Schubert's friend Leopold von Sonnleithner, among others. Apparently, Leopold Mozart compiled the three bundles according to genre. The first part contains the great Serenade K. 185 with the corresponding March K. 189. The third part contains nine symphonies, written between April 1773 and April 1774. In the second part we encounter three serenades (K. 203, K. 204 and K. 250), as well as the Concertone. Leopold Mozart probably considered the genre of the concertone to be an extension of the great serenades: after all, these also contain a number of movements with one or more instrumental soloists.
It is not inconceivable that Mozart performed the Concertone in Mannheim or Paris: after all, he had written this earlier in 1774, i.e. directly after his first violin concerto. However, as in the case of the Sinfonia Concertante, there are no known documents that can provide any further information in this respect.
Ronald Vermeulen,
English translation: Fiona J. Stroker-Gale

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