Klarinet Archive - Posting 000644.txt from 1995/09

From: Stan Geidel <sgeidel@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Kegelstatt Trio
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 1995 13:25:00 -0400

>To: Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network <KLARINET@-----.BITNET>
>From: sgeidel@-----.net (Stan Geidel)
>Subject: Re: Kegelstatt Trio
>
>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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