Klarinet Archive - Posting 000309.txt from 2004/10

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mozart Gran Partit(t)a
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 21:58:00 -0400

Jim, the elimination of that measure was not done because I liked
it or disliked it that way. There is hard evidence in the
manuscript in Mozart's hand directing the elimination of that
measure. Your conductor wants the measure put back in because he
is used to having it in, and feels awkward with it gone, but that
is NOT a reason to reinsert it. This is not an issue on which to
decide by vote either; i.e., "let's do what the majority want to
do."

This matter is resolved not by any democratic process but by
examining what Mozart wrote in the manuscript, a copy of which
may very well be available to you. A facsimile of the autograph
was put out by the Library of Congress in around 1966. I should
know, I reviewed it.

Here is the critical evidence that you want to bring to the
conductor's attention. Exactly how is that movement laid out in
the manuscript score? The pair of measures that are in dispute
(at m. 110 and 111 in some editions) occurs exactly FIVE times
before the coda.

1 occurs at m. 7 and 8 of the Romanze
2 occurs at m. 7 and 8 of the Romanze because of the repeat
3 occurs at m. 23 and 24 of the Romanze
4 occurs at m. 23 and 24 of the Romanze because of the repeat

So that is why you hear that measure pair four times before the
Allegretto begins.

At the end of the Allegretto, the autograph states "DA CAPO SENZA
REPLICHE". So you go back to the beginning but how do you get out
of that section and get to the coda??

First you hear that measure pair a fifth time:

5. There is measure 7 and 8 again (though they no longer have
those measure numbers because editions reprint the entire adagio,
so they now are named measures 94 and 95, but in an earlier life
they were named 7 and 8). However, you don't repeat those 8
measures a fifth time because Mozart said "SENZA REPLICHE." So
you go ahead after having played that measure pair for the fifth
time.

Now everything in your body is ready for the 6th repetition of
that measure pair, namely at 23 and 24 (to be renamed as m. 110
and 111 in some editions). And you expect that pair of measures
to be the gateway that will take you to the coda, where you will
land on an E-flat 7th chord. Right? But Mozart is smarter than
that. He says, "five times is enough. Here is a surprise!"

And Mozart allows you to play 23 (= m. 110). But in the autograph
over measure 24 (= m. 111 if we allowed it) Mozart places an
ambiguous "1st ending symbol". You won't find in any edition or
in any score. Only the autograph has it. Without the autograph,
none of this makes any sense. (The Barenreiter edition of the
score reproduces that area of the autograph so that you can see
the 1st ending symbol yourself, as big as a house.) And what
does he mean by putting a 1st ending symbol over 24 (= m. 111)?
He means that this point, don't play m. 111. Instead, leap to
the coda.

Now I'm not making this up. There is nothing personal involved.
I neither like this situation nor dislike it. Liking or
disliking it has nothing to do with the matter. That is what the
manuscript says. And the fact that the copyist of 1784
misunderstood Mozart's ambiguous directions, and left that
measure in for the 6th repetition, is the source of the problem.
So what your conductor is saying is: "The incorrect
interpretation of how to get to the coda as decided on by a
copyist in 1784, is not as important or as meaninful as what
Mozart wrote in the manuscript."

Now do you see the problem in all its glory and its solution? It
is a matter of life and death.

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Lytthans [mailto:lytthans@-----.net]
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2004 3:17 PM
To: Klarinet List (Mail)
Subject: [kl] Mozart Gran Partit(t)a

Dan,

It's measure 111 in the 5th movement, and it's out. None of my
recordings
leave out the two Eb concert eighth notes, although it does make
sense,
because the next measure resolves to a nice Eb7 chord, setting up
the coda.
So you were the one who exorcised that measure. Did you look at
any of
Mozart's manuscripts? The conductor wanted the "original" measure
put back
in, but I'll argue the point with him at tomorrow's rehearsal,
citing your
expertise.

My wife really would frown on me marrying your daughter, but
thanks for the
refusal, anyway. You're on for the additional nachos!

---------
Jim Lytthans
Anaheim, CA
http://home.earthlink.net/~lytthans/index.html

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