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This past
Monday was Family Day here in Ontario, and it justifies, in part, this week’s
montage dedicated to the Mozart family. In a way, this is territory we covered
already in a past montage from December 2018, when
we featured works from three generations of Mozarts: Father, Son and
Grandson.
Leopold
Mozart is primarily known as the father and mentor of his son Wolfgang, but he
was a composer of importance in his own right, becoming the Prince-Archbishop
of Salzburg’s court composer in 1757 and vice chapelmaster a few years later.
His “Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing” was published in
1756 (the year of Wolfgang’s birth) and was long a standard text and was widely
reprinted and translated.
Since he
was court composer, you expect that his output was massive, taking in
symphonies, concertos, cantatas, oratorios, masses, various chamber works,
songs, sonatas, and numerous other works; he ceased composing regularly in the
early 1760s to concentrate on the education of his elder daughter Nannerl and
his son Wolfgang.
Leopold's
best-known works, considered typical of his output, are the ones least
representative of it: The Musical Sleigh-Ride, The Peasant Wedding,
the Toy Symphony are oddities. His best works, those written for the
Church, are virtually unknown and of his symphonies, concertos and serenades,
few are played and fewer still were recorded.
The Sinfonia
di caccia is a genre piece written for a specific occasion – in this case
an undisclosed hunting party. In addition to the shouts, dog barks and raucous
horn playing, Leopold also makes provision in the score of the first movement
for several gun-shots. The combined effect of the brilliant horn writing, which
is based on a traditional horn-call, and the unexpected and highly imaginative
sound effects is stunning. There are few pieces of music which have so
successfully and memorably captured the excitement and thrill of the hunt. The
second movement, by comparison, is far more restrained although not without its
own deft touches. The extensive use of echo, while not original, is highly
effective in conjuring up a sense of the great outdoors. With the concluding
Minuet, however, the action returns indoors, albeit with a reminiscence of the
hunting field in the form of prominent writing for the four horns.
Although
little of Leopold Mozart's music is now played, it has of course attracted a
great deal of attention over the years as scholars have searched for influences
on his son's work. Leopold Mozart may have played a quite major role in the
composition of Wolfgang's earliest works but his influence as composer on his
son was probably minimal.
To match up
with the Leopold piece with prominent horns, I chose to include two horn
concertos, Wolfgang’s third and fourth. These were written in the mid-1780’s
for his friend Joseph Leutgeb whom he had known since childhood. Leutgeb was a
skilled player, as the works are very difficult to perform on the natural horn
of the period, requiring lip trills, much hand-stopping, and rapid tonguing.
The
concerti are performed, in keeping with its usual “democratic” tradition, by
two different soloists, both members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. That
tradition also includes performing without a conductor. To complete the
montage, from the same CD anthology of wind concertos, I included his first
flute concerto.
I think you will love this music too.
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