"The Art of Mozart"
April 9th, 2006
Program Notes
Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio, K. 384
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Presto
Completed In: 1782
German: Die Entführung aus dem Serail
The Abduction from the Seraglio is a comic opera in three acts, the
libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner. The plot deals with an attempt
by the hero Belmonte, with the help of his servant Pedrillo, to rescue his
fiancé Konstanze from the seraglio (living quarters of wives and concubines
in the Turkish home) of the Pasha Selim.
The opera was first performed on July 16, 1782 for the Austrian emperor
Joseph II in the Burgtheater in Vienna and was a success, establishing
Mozart's reputation in Vienna after moving there from his native Salzburg
the year before.
The opera is in the form of a singspiel, or, the story is carried along
primarily by spoken word, not sung recitatives. It is lighthearted and plays
on Turkish stereotypes held in Vienna, its location made it a primary stronghold
against the Ottoman Turks for two centuries. Much of the music
includes percussive instruments employed by Turkish Janissary bands; bass
drum, cymbals, and triangle. Haydn implemented this technique quite well
in his "Military" symphony.
The Overture utilizes a combination of Turkish themes and standard
European treatment to establish the mood for the opera. It opens with the
cellos and violins and expands quickly to the full orchestra using sudden
bursts of excitement, interwoven with abrupt "quiet" sections that add to a
feeling of comic secrecy. The wild finish, in true Mozart fashion, leaves you
expecting an evening of operatic entertainment.
Scored for: flute, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings. [1[1/pic]222-2230-tmp-str]
Danica Robins is currently pursing her master's degree in instrumental music
education from Pittsburg State University, which she will complete this semester.
She holds a bachelor of music education degree with an emphasis in bassoon,
also from PSU. In her second year of teaching, she is the string orchestra teacher
at Pittsburg Community Middle School. Danica also plays in the SEK Symphony.
Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
I. Allegro
Last SEKSO Performance: date
Completed In: 1784
First Performance: date
After resigning from his court position with the Archbishop of
Salzburg in May of 1781, Mozart made what had originally been a temporary
move to Vienna permanent and began working as a freelance performer,
teacher, and composer. From letters to his father concerning the number of
concert subscribers that Mozart had in the following years (which were soon
far greater those of any other Viennese pianist of the time), we know that
Mozart had become the most popular pianist in the city by the year 1784.
As a performer, Mozart was constantly in need of new material to present to
his public, so it is no surprise that this year would see the composer produce
a particularly large quantity of concert pieces, including six piano concertos.
The fourth of these, his Concerto in G major, however, was not written for
Mozart to perform himself, but rather reminds us of the occasional works
that he composed for commission during this year. Completed on April 10
of 1784, this was the second concerto that Mozart would write for one of his
favorite pupils, Barbara von Ployer, daughter of the Salzburg Court Agent in
Vienna, Gottfried Ignaz von Ployer.
Miss Ployer (or "Babette" as she was called) was already quite an accomplished
musician (she studied piano and composition with Mozart, and
Haydn would later write his F minor piano variations for her), and Mozart's
writing for her, although perhaps less technically demanding, is in no way
inferior to the concertos that he intended for himself. In fact, we find that
quite the opposite is true. This concerto is considered unique among Mozart's
piano concertos in that it achieves the highest level of musical quality
throughout the piece, each movement being excellent by its own standards.
This concerto also differs from many of his others, as pointed out by musicologist
C. M. Gridlestone, in that the work as a whole is not permeated by
one particular mood or character. Here we find unexpected shifts in harmony
(without warning major changes to minor, or we find ourselves in such
distant keys as E♭ Major) as well as a wealth of musical material, reflecting
not a single state of mind, but rather something closer to reality, in which
our thoughts flow one into another. As Girdlestone put it, much of this
movement "hesitates...between laughter and tears." Mozart himself seems
to have been particularly proud of this concerto and invited the famous Italian
opera composer Giovanni Paisiello to attend its premiere in June, hoping
to show off both his new concerto as well as his student, Miss Ployer.
Scored for: flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and strings. [1202-2000-str]
Scott Sternberger graduated from
Pittsburg State University in 2005, earning
bachelor's degrees in both Piano Performance and Spanish Education. An
accomplished pianist, Mr. Sternberger has been the recipient of numerous musical
prizes and awards, including the Treble Clef Scholarship award (2001-2005) and
the Priscilla Schrag Music Student of the Year Award (2005), as well as placing in
competitions at both the state and national levels. In 2001, Mr. Sternberger was
a winner of the SEK Concerto/Aria Competition with his performance of Haydn's
Piano Concerto in D, Hob. XVIII:11, a competition which he won again in 2004,
earning him today's performance of Mozart's Concerto in G, K.453. Mr. Sternberger
has studied with Dr. Reena Berger since 2000, and is currently a Lecturer of Spanish
in the PSU Modern Languages and Literatures Department.
Concerto for Bassoon in B flat, K. 191 (186e)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
II. Andante ma Adagio
III. Rondo Tempo di Menuetto
Last SEKSO Performance: November 17th, 1996
First Performed: June 4, 1774 in Salzburg
First performed June 4, 1774
in Salzburg, Mozart's bassoon concerto
is the only one of three for the instrument that survives today, and is
a standard for any performer on the instrument. The concerto was written
when he was only 18, one of Mozart's first concertos for solo instrument,
piano excluded, and believed to be commissioned for a bassoonist in the
court orchestra of Prince-Archbishop Colleredo of Salzburg. It calls for
two oboes, two horns and strings.
The first movement is a standard sonata form (Allegro), the second
movement, Andante ma Adagio, begins in F major with an opening
of muted strings. This sets the stage for the soloist, entering with one of
the best loved melodies for the instrument written to that time. The full
range of the instrument is featured in this movement. In many concerti
of the time, the second movement was usually reserved for soloist and
strings, but Mozart uses other instruments, primarily oboes in support and
also in conjunction with the solo melodies.
In contrast to the second movement, the final Rondo Tempo di
Menuetto is the performer's chance to show off the brisk, jovial nature of the
instrument. The third movement starts off at a brisk pace by the orchestra
and, almost as an afterthought the soloist comes in to begin variations providing
the audience with a clear look at the range and capabilities of both
the instrument and the performer.
Scored for: 2 oboes, 2 horns, and strings. [0200-2000-str]
Russell Jones received a B.A. degree from Duke University ,and M.M.E. and
Ph.D degrees from Indiana University. He taught band, chorus, and general music
in the North Carolina public schools prior to his graduate work. He has been at
Pittsburg State University since receiving his doctorate. His duties at Pittsburg State
include teaching Instrumental Music Education, bassoon, Woodwind Techniques,
and some graduate courses. In addition to bassoon, he continues to be an active
performer on clarinet, saxophone, oboe and English horn. He has performed with
the Southeast Kansas Symphony, the Springfield Symphony, the Northeast Arkansas
Symphony, the Fayetteville (N.C) Symphony, the Iola Symphony, the PSU Band,
as well as bands and orchestras at Indiana University and Duke University . He
continues to be an active performer in chamber music, jazz, musical theater, large
ensemble, and as a soloist. He recently performed the Mozart Bassoon Concerto,
K.191, with the SEK Symphony.
His teachers have included Leonard Sharrow (NBC Symphony and Chicago Symphony),
Wilfred Roberts (Dallas Symphony), Roy Houser (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra),
Eric Barr (Dallas Symphony), Earl Bates, Allan Bone, and Charles Veazy.
He has attended summer camps in oboe with John Mack and Joseph Robinson. He
has published articles in "The Instrumentalist," "The Journal of Research in Music
Education," "The Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education," and
"The Midwest Double Reed Society Newsletter."
Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K.551 "Jupiter"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
I. Allegro vivace
II. Andante cantabile
III. Menuetto: Allegretto - Trio
IV. Molto allegro
Last SEKSO Performance: October 4th, 1998
Completed In: 1788
Mozart wrote his final three symphonies during the summer of 1788
over a short six- week period. It's doubtful that he assigned the title to this
work; he probably didn't even hear it performed, but it does express the grand
scope of the piece, the largest, most complex, and perhaps jovial symphony
of them all. Just as Brahms' first symphony has been dubbed "Beethoven's
Tenth", Mozart's final symphony was finished just a decade before
Beethoven's First and helped pave the way for the new master. An effort was
made to push the boundaries of the day, intertwining five melodies at once in
the final movement.
The first movement, Allegro vivace, opens in with two bars of a
grand tutti, followed by one of Mozart's trademark hushed operatic whispers.
This plays back and forth until the flute and oboe muster the courage to
come in and begin expanding the theme. The development and recapitulation
plays on this exchange of winds and strings at the whim of the composer's
sense of humor.
The second movement, Andante cantabile, opens darkly and
quietly, even though in F major, the melody in the upper strings, echoed by
the lower and interspersed with exclamations by the full orchestra. Haydn
implemented this melody into his 98th symphony upon hearing of his death.
The Menuetto is fun and light, the Trio again giving a glimpse of
Mozart's youthful irreverence, it 'opens with an ending', using a number
of final cadence chords.
Finally, the fourth movement, Molto allegro, wastes no time. To
German audiences, this symphony was known as "the one with the
fugue", but it is actually a sonata form with fugato sections. The development
is dominated by the main theme of the exposition; the recap is somewhat
shortened and simplified. This all gives way to the infamous grand
fugato of the Coda that is built on all five themes. Stated, restated, inverted,
combined, and given to each register, each timbre. All things come together
to make this one of the most memorable moments in all of the works of this
celebrated composer.
The first movement, Allegro vivace, opens in with two bars of a
grand tutti, followed by one of Mozart's trademark hushed operatic whispers.
This plays back and forth until the flute and oboe muster the courage to
come in and begin expanding the theme. The development and recapitulation
plays on this exchange of winds and strings at the whim of the composer's
sense of humor.
The second movement, Andante cantabile, opens darkly and
quietly, even though in F major, the melody in the upper strings, echoed by
the lower and interspersed with exclamations by the full orchestra. Haydn
implemented this melody into his 98th symphony upon hearing of his death.
The Menuetto is fun and light, the Trio again giving a glimpse of
Mozart's youthful irreverence, it 'opens with an ending', using a number of
final cadence chords.
Finally, the fourth movement, Molto allegro, wastes no time. To
German audiences, this symphony was known as "the one with the fugue",
but it is actually a sonata form with fugato sections. The development is
dominated by the main theme of the exposition; the recap is somewhat
shortened and simplified. This all gives way to the infamous grand fugato of
the Coda that is built on all five themes. Stated, restated, inverted, combined,
and given to each register, each timbre. All things come together to
make this one of the most memorable moments in all of the works of this
celebrated composer.
Scored for: flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons,
2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings. [1202-2200-tmp-str]
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