Mozart - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Mozart vs Schubert

To study this movement after the Schubert would allow some comparison, not only of variation techniques,

much

more

soloistic

use of the piano.

It

is also a Theme and Variations but with very extensive closing material (the Finale).

Both

halves of the stereotypically classical binary theme are to be repeated, but where Schubert repeated his final four bars, which would have made repeating the whole second half tedious, Mozart limits himself to the more usual 8 bars → dominant :II: 8 bars → tonic :II.

The

four-bar phrases are more continuous than Schubert’s

can

candidates hear the 2-bar phrasing of bars

8

– 12?

Can

they hear that bars 10 – 12 are themselves an ornamented version (i.e. ‘varied’) of bars 8 – 9? That the last 4-bar phrase bears a close resemblance to bars 4 – 8?

The

orchestra presents the

theme

and

repeats both halves exactly, as does the piano in Variation I, but, thereafter, every repeat is actually recomposed, i.e. yet another version (most often alternating orchestra and piano). This makes the variations appear, deceptively, considerably longer than Schubert’s.

Candidates should learn to

recognise

differences between the

soloistic

roles of the four string instruments in the chamber music context of the Schubert movement and the typical classical orchestral techniques and textures here.

They

should know exactly how many wind instruments are used in this orchestra and be able to hear when they are treated as a ‘choir’ of solo instruments.

They

may perhaps not fully appreciate Mozart’s inventiveness in this respect until they have heard Haydn’s more sparse, and Beethoven’s more powerful, use of wind in the two symphonies. Slide2

Mozart

Piano

Concerto in G Major, K453Slide3

The first listen

Which instruments are playing the melody line? Which instruments are accompanying

Describe the tempo of the musicIdentify a

structure

For about three years the composer

kept a pet starling. Mozart

presumably taught the bird to sing this tune in the pet store, or wherever it was that he bought it.

Slide4

Overview

Third Movement: Allegretto, Presto; theme and variations

form

G major

Series of variations on the theme, with melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elaborations.

2

/2 meter

–

Alla

Breve – Cut time or Half timeThe reason for the usage of "alla breve" is to allow the musician to read notes of short duration more cleanly with fewer beats.Slide5

G

D

D

G

G

D

E min

D

D

A

A

D

A

D

G

G

G

Amin

D

GSlide6
Slide7

Schubert vs

Mozart theme

Schubert

Mozart

Instrumentation

Texture

Key

Structure

Phrases

Tempo

Rhythm

MelodySlide8

Schubert and Mozart

W

hy the music was composed

- for

what

occasion or for who? What was the inspiration?

When was it written?How and where might it

have been

performed?

What sort of audience might have heard it?How was it received?Slide9

Schubert

Mozart

When was it written?

1819

1784

Why the music was composed - for what occasion or for who? What was the inspiration?

The intention of this composition was purely for one of Schubert’s friend, music patron and amateur cellist

Paumgartner

, who loved one of Schubert’s earlier songs, The Trout.

Written for one of his most gifted students, Barbara

Ployer

, Mozart said she paid him handsomely for it.

Her father, a wealthy agent of the Salzburg court in Vienna,

How and where might it have been performed? What sort of audience might have heard it?

Schubert embarked on the composition of this ‘Trout Quintet’ without any plans for public performances. He did not have a record deal either, and he probably wouldn’t care much about it. This ‘Trout Quintet’ was written purely for a friendly get-together session, like many of the other Schubert’s compositions.

The date of the premiere is uncertain.

Barbara

Ployer

gave the first performance on June 13 at her family’s summer home in the Viennese suburb of

Döbling

, accompanied by an orchestra her father hired for the occasion

How was it received?

it was not published, however, until 1829, a year after his death.

This Quintet was Schubert’s earliest chamber music masterpiece, and has been one of his most lasting.

Mozart’s popularity with the Viennese concert public can be gauged from the number of piano concertos he wrote each year; 1784 was the peak year, with six new concertos.

It was well received by the

Ployers

’ guests, and its success quickly spread beyond the suburban enclave of

Döbling

. It’s one of only six of Mozart’s piano concertos which were published during his lifetime. Slide10

Compare Schubert and Mozart theme

Schubert

Mozart

Instrumentation

String Quartet

and Piano

Theme in violin

Full Orchestra

Flute doubles 1

st

violins

throughout playing theme

Texture

Homophonic

Homophony

-

oboes and bassoons thickening the texture at the cadences, horns’ Dominant pedal bars 12 – 14,

Key

D major

G major- Strong tonic dominant emphases throughout greater diversity of chords than in the Schubert which drive the music towards its perfect cadence.

Structure

Binary Theme A – 8 bars and repeatedB 12 Bars – 8 bars and the last 4 repeated

Binary Theme – Typically classicalA - 8 bars repeated B – 8 bars repeated

Repeating both sections

→ dominant :II: 8 bars → tonic :II.Phrases

2 bar phrasesMore continuous four bar phrases Bars 10-12 are an

ornamented ‘varied’ version of bars 8-9TempoAndantino 2/4

Allegretto 2/2 meter –

Alla Breve

– Cut time or Half time. Elegant, dance likeRhythm

More rhythmical. Use of dotted rhythms

Rhythmical similarity of the phrases

Very simple

Melody

Some use

of ornamentation and trills. Mostly conjunct with some leaps

Greater use of appoggiatura in the melody line. Very conjunctSlide11

Homework

Listen to the

youtube

clip of Lang Lang’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto. Write down the timings where each variation begins. Then describe what is happening in each variation. Which instruments have the theme? What are the accompanying instruments doing? Is there any change in mood, dynamics, tempo, key, etc…

Theme – 1:54

Variation 1 –

Variation 2 –

Variation 3 –

Variation 4 –

Variation 5 – Finale – 6.53Slide12

Timings for Lang Lang performance

Theme – 1:54

Variation 1 – 2:36Variation 2 – 3.18

Variation 3 – 4.00

Variation 4 – 4.48

Variation 5 – 5.39

Finale – 6.53Slide13

Description

Variation

1 -

2:36

Piano enters alone with an

elaborated version of the Theme

(e.g. the ‘turn’ around the first D in bar 17) and new harmonies for the last four bars

Scoring: strings accompany intermittently

1st violin echoing the piano

Variation 2 - 3:18

Woodwind introduces each part of the theme

Bars 32 – 40

: woodwind play the Theme ‘straight’,

accompanied by constant running patterns in the piano

(in triplets)

Bars 40 – 48: piano right hand echoes this, the running notes transferring to the left hand: strings double the melody an octave lower and provide unobtrusive harmony.

Bars 48 – 56:

woodwind return

with the second half of the Theme, the piano right hand resumes the running patterns.

Variation 3 - 4:00

The sequence is similar but the piano is silent during the woodwind versions of both halves. These are accompanied only by strings

who play

a highly-disguised version of the Theme.

When the piano takes it up, the elaboration increases (note the ‘

Alberti

’ bass, a highly characteristic feature of Mozart’s piano music).

Scoring: a very restricted role for the strings but an increasingly confident one for the woodwind.

The texture of their second half of the theme is

contrapuntal

(

with two or more independent melodic line)

and has almost a chamber-music intimacy.

Solo

woodwind

Instruments in a dialogue – more lyrical Slide14

Variation I (Bars 16 – 32) 2:36Slide15

Alberti

Bass

Alberti

bass

is a kind of broken chord or

arpeggiated

accompaniment, where the notes of the chord are presented in the order lowest, highest, middle, highest. This pattern is then repeated.Slide16

Variation 4 : 4:48

Strings

introduce theme,

How would you describe the strong contrast of mood?

Now in a mysterious mood, minor key

Drop in dynamic level

A broad explanation of dissonance/

chromaticism

and the ‘dragging’ effect of suspensions might be helpful to them.

Answered by syncopated, chromatic piano line

The piano is silent in both halves while the strings, doubled in places by the woodwind, present both halves of the theme.

Each time it copies their version but with the addition of more appoggiaturas which increase the dissonant, ‘pained’ effect.

Like Schubert, a central variation in the tonic minor but the reverse of the ‘speeding-up’ noted in his Variation III: here, the sudden absence of short-value notes (not a single quaver in the first eight bars) might mislead candidates into thinking the tempo is slower

Variation 5 - 5:39

An exuberant

tutti

offers only the harmonic outline of the Theme.

Again, the pace appears to quicken in tandem with the sudden forte.

Loud march

Characterized

by descending pattern at the beginning of phrases

Piano silent at first but enters with a reminder of the Theme in the left hand with a long (dominant) trill above.

Can candidates hear the imitations (antiphony) and the octave pairings? (6:03-6:15)

Bars 160 – 170:

a closing section which winds down (e.g. through descending sequences of a 6-note chromatic figure in the piano) to a mood of expectation on a pause (just

like

the Schubert) but leading to: Slide17

Syncopation

- a

shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats.

Variation IV (Bars 16 – 32) 2:36Slide18

Finale (Presto - Bars 171 – 346) 6:53

Tempo change

-

Presto

is much faster than the Allegretto of the rest of the movement.

Features new theme

Highly virtuosic piano writing

Mood – Dramatic - This

conclusion is often described as typically buffo, a reference to its Figaro-like character. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85kFY4D55oEIt is not a thorough-going variation, but there is more than one attempt by the piano to reintroduce the Theme (e.g. at bar 248 and the very end of the movement).

Scoring: much

tutti

but still with fine details in the woodwind parts,

e.g

. the very audible bassoon scale in bars 279/80, an echo of the flute two octaves higher, both of them imitating the piano’s first use of it in bar 224.

It may be helpful to candidates to continue comparing the different roles of the piano in a chamber music context and in a solo concerto context. Slide19