Mozart vs Schubert To study this movement after

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 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 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.

Mozart Piano Concerto in G Major, K 453

The first listen • Which instruments are playing the melody line? Which instruments are accompanying • Describe the tempo of the music • Identify a structure composer e h t s r a e y ree For about th ng. Mozart presumably tarli in the e n u t kept a pet s is h t g ird to sin s that he taught the b a w it r e v e r r whe pet store, o bought it.

Overview • Third Movement: Allegretto, Presto; theme and variations form • G major • Series of variations on theme, with melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elaborations. • 2/2 meter – Alla Breve – Cut time or Half time • The reason for the usage of "alla breve" is to allow the musician to read notes of short duration more cleanly with fewer beats.

G D D G E min D D A D G G A Amin D G

Schubert vs Mozart theme Schubert Instrumentation Texture Key Structure Phrases Tempo Rhythm Melody Mozart

Schubert and Mozart • Why 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?

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

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 repeated B 12 Bars – 8 bars and the last 4 repeated Binary Theme – Typically classical A - 8 bars repeated B – 8 bars repeated Repeating both sections → dominant : II: 8 bars → tonic : II. Phrases 2 bar phrases More continuous four bar phrases Bars 10 -12 are an ornamented ‘varied’ version of bars 8 -9 Tempo Andantino 2/4 Allegretto 2/2 meter – Alla Breve – Cut time or Half time. Elegant, dance like Rhythm 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 conjunct

Homework Listen to the youtube clip of 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 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. 53

Timings for Lang performance • • Theme – 1: 54 Variation 1 – 2: 36 Variation 2 – 3. 18 Variation 3 – 4. 00 Variation 4 – 4. 48 Variation 5 – 5. 39 Finale – 6. 53

Description Variation 1 - 2: 36 • • • Variation 2 - 3: 18 • • Variation 3 - 4: 00 • • • 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 1 st violin echoing the piano Woodwind introduces each part of 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. 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 highlydisguised 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 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

Variation I (Bars 16 – 32) 2: 36

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.

Variation 4 : 4: 48 • • • Variation 5 - 5: 39 • • 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 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 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: 036: 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

Variation IV (Bars 16 – 32) 2: 36 Syncopation - a shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats.

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=85 k. FY 4 D 55 o. E It 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.