WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Serenade No. 10,“ Gran Partita,” III. Adagio
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Serenade No. 10,“ Gran Partita,” III. Adagio
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Born 1756 in Salzburg, Austria; died 1791 in Vienna, Austria
• Mozart was considered a child prodigy, with his first piece published at age six and first opera written by age 12.
• After being employed by wealthy patrons for a time, Mozart bucked the norm of holding steady employment under patronage and created a career as a freelance musician. As a result( and in part due to regular gambling), Mozart struggled financially throughout his life.
• The composer’ s output was tremendous, with over 600 works in his lifetime and mastering multiple genres including symphonic music, solo repertoire, and opera. Many of these works remain hugely popular, such as The Marriage of Figaro, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, and The Magic Flute. He remains one of the most recognizable household names in Western classical music to this day.
• Mozart passed away at only 35 years old. Shortly before his death, the composer was commissioned to write a Requiem by an anonymous patron. The unusual commission haunted Mozart who began to see the work as a harbinger of his own death. Mozart passed away unexpectedly before finishing the work.
THE WORLD AT A GLANCE
1782
MUSIC Haydn’ s Symphony No. 73
FILM Angelica Kauffman’ s The Allegory of poetry and music
ABOUT THE PIECE
• Mozart wrote this work in 1781 or 1782. The work, Serenade No. 10, commonly uses the subtitle“ Gran Partita.” Funny enough, this title is a misspelling and not written in Mozart’ s hand.
• The third movement Adagio, performed on this program, employs a syncopated pulse throughout the sonorous, almost operatic melody.
HISTORY The American Revolutionary War
14 BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA