Klarinet Archive - Posting 000325.txt from 2002/04

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] K. 581a - Date of Composition
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 22:35:56 -0400

It's a very difficult problem. The fact that K. 581 and K. 581a are
sequential in the chronological lists of the Koechel catalog does not
mean that the two compositions really were chronological. But if one
were to assume that they really were, all that I could tell you is what
the watermarks are for the paper of K. 581a as well as what other
compositions of Mozart use that same paper (or papers).

Matching ink is almost impossible. If he went out of town, or even was
on the other side of town and needed to compose, he would borrow
whatever ink was available.

Insofar as dating a work based on watermarks, some compositions
containing paper of the same watermark were often written 10 years
apart. It all depends on the specific watermark. When he used paper of
a specific watermark over a known and very brief period, finding another
work that contains that watermark will invariably tie that work to the
brief chronology of the others.

As I said, it is a very difficult problem. If you are interested, I can
take a look and tell you about the paper used for K. 581a and also what
other words used that same paper. That might be helpful or it might not
be.

Dan

MVinquist@-----.com wrote:
>
> I've seen the original MS of K. 581a at the Morgan Library in New York. It's
> clearly a joke on Stadler, with various colors of ink as well as changing
> clefs. It should be possible to date it by matching the ink and paper to
> what Mozart was using on particular dates.
>
> Dan or Tony -- has anyone done this work? Or does the lack of an MS for K.
> 581 make it futile to ask which came first?
>
> Ken Shaw
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
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