Klarinet Archive - Posting 000127.txt from 2002/01

From: Labadorf@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Re: Kegelstadt Trio...
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 22:46:54 -0500

Hello Fred,

When I saw this response, I copied and kept it in my files for future
reference. Following my signature is the excerpt complete with with the
question from you!

Tom Labadorf
Labadorf@-----.com
Coast Guard Band
Adjunct instructor
Central Connecticut State University
Connecticut College

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

Replies:

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