Klarinet Archive - Posting 000186.txt from 2007/07

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mozart Gran Partita
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:56:40 -0400

I know of no musical history in support of the theory you suggest
in your note, copy below. While it is true that there were
private wind ensembles for the royalty, all the evidence points
to the fact that those ensembles had 8 players; i.e., pairs of
oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons. There is no special case
applicable to the Gran Partitta.

The best guess is that clarinetist Anton Stadler wanted to have a
benefit concert for himself and so he asked Mozart to compose the
work. Two basset horn players in Vienna (named David and
Springer) were added to the standard octet, and one extra pair of
horns. There are not 4 horns needed for the work as much as two
pairs of horns, one pair in B-flat basso, the other pair in
E-flat. That ensemble would have been unbalanced without a
16-foot bass, and thus the instrumentation for the work was done.
The event for which Stadler wanted the piece took place on Mar.
23, 1784.

The belief that Mozart composed in his head is very much
exaggerated. He was a working stiff and he composed when he got
a commission. The way he wrote his works down gives the
impression that it was entirely complete in his head before he
wrote it down, but that does not seem to have been the case.

There are several detailed technical papers that describe the
probable origin of the work, but the one you propose is brand
new. That doesn't mean it is wrong, only that it is a torturous
description of a very simple act; i.e., it violates the principle
of Occam's Razor.

Dan Leeson
dnLeeson@-----.net
Skype address: dnleeson

-----Original Message-----
From: Martin Baxter [mailto:martinbaxter@-----.net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 1:44 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] Mozart Gran Partita

I remember being told by the late Frank Rendall (bassoonist and
teacher at RMSM Kneller Hall) that the work was originally
written
for an occasion where the private bands of two German Princes
were to
play. One band was presumably the standard Octet; the other (as
per
the J.C Bach works) was 2 clarinets 2 horns and bassoon.
However the Princes quarreled and the meeting and thus the
performance did not take place.
Mozart had already composed much of the work in his head (as was
often his practice) so when writing it out he merely substituted
string bass for the original contrabassoon.
It's a nice logical story but I have spent a long time trying to
find
any proof (or disproof) of it, with little success. Has anyone
else
heard it?
Martin

-----------------------------------------------------------------
-

------------------------------------------------------------------

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org