Klarinet Archive - Posting 000643.txt from 1995/09

From: Stan Geidel <sgeidel@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Kegelstatt Trio
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 1995 13:23:00 -0400

Fred Jacobitz asks:

>This is a second try at finding an answer to a small mystery so if anyone
>ignored it the first time, I'd appreciate you taking a stab at it this
>time. A few years ago I remember reading (although it may have been
>a conversation) that a musicologist did some research on the Mozart
>Kegelstaat
>Trio and found that, as he had suspected, it was mis-named.
>He supposedly found that the opus # (pre-Kochel) had been mixed up with a
>little piece of fluff which was the original Kegelstaat piece. His thesis
>was that the Trio was far too serious a work to have been written at a
>bowling green. So he looked and found evidence of a mix-up. Does anyone
>else remember anything about such an article or this kind of research? Is
>it from a dissertation? Hey John Cohler and Dan Leeson...know anything
>about this?>

Fred, I believe I can answer your question...sorry about not
responding the first time you posted; I did take note of your
query, but simply did not have an opportunity to respond.
For the purpose of my convenience only, may I quote my own writings on
the Trio? (Could it be that the writings you refer to above are mine, and
you remember my comments about the Trio? If so, thank you--I'm very
flattered if this is the case.)

"The reader may note the absence of my reference to K.498 by its
commonly employed sobriquet, the "Kegelstatt" Trio. This appellation
arose due to the notion that Mozart composed the work during a game
of ninepins, a pastime also referred to as "skittles" or "kegeling."
One would play such a game at a "Kegelstatt," hence the name "Kegelstatt
Trio." Various musicians and scholars have expressed doubts as to the
authenticity of this account of the work's creation. Plath and Rehm,
in the preface to their edition of the Trio prepared for Barenreiter's
Neue Ausgabe samtlicher Werke, cast doubt upon the legitimacy of the
"Kegelstatt" anecdote. Plath and Rehm point out that the subtitle
"Kegelstatt" was possibly erroneously transferred from Mozart's set
of Twelve Duos for Two Wind Instruments, K.487. The manuscript of
these Duos, dated nine days earlier than the Trio, bears the inscription
"untern kegelscheiben" (i.e., "during a game of skittles"). Kochel, in
his catalog of Mozart's work, confirms this inscription in the Duos.
No similar inscription appears in the manuscript of the Trio."

Fred, I have personally examined the manuscript of the Trio at great
length, and written extensively on this great work. It is very clear
that the "Kegelstatt" music is in fact the Twelve Duos, this fact
confirmed by Mozart's own note on the Duos. In the final analysis,
all of this confusion most likely arose from a publisher's error.
The editions are an interesting study, from the original Artaria to
those of today. Let me know if this subject interests you; I know
a bit about it.

On the subject of the erroneous transfer of the title "Kegelstatt..."
There are dozens of errors in the Trio as we have come to know it today,
including several wrong notes! Even the two "authentic" editions
in print today--those of Henle and Barenreiter, differ as to which
notes are correct. I will not write on this matter here, since it
is off the subject of your question. If you are interested in
learning more about this, perhaps I can help.

In any event, rest assured that Mozart's Kegelstatt music is in fact
the qute charming Twelve Duos. There is some evidence that Mozart
may have developed some of the ideas for the Trio during an afternoon
of recreation, but it cannot be confirmed, and is at best spurious.
The actual written-out music from the kegelstatt where Mozart enjoyed
many afternoons of fun and games is K.487, the Duos.

-------------------------------------
Dr. Stanley Geidel

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