Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Works (Term Paper Sample)

Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Works
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Introduction
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the classical era. From his earliest childhood, Mozart showed prodigious capabilities. Already competent on violin and keyboard, from the age of 5 he began composing and performed before the European royalty. He was later to engage as a court musician in Salzburg. He visited Vienna in 1781 where he composed abundantly. It is while in that city of Vienna that he composed a majority of his best-known concertos, operas, symphonies, and portions of the requiem.
The pieces to represent Mozart’s works will be arranged based on their genres. The common threads were both compositional and chronological from 1761 to 1791, and they include: "Don Giovanni, a cenartecom'invitasti" (Don Giovanni K. 527); Twelve variations for piano on “Ah, vousdirai-je, maman.” K. 265/300; Divertimento in D Major, K. 131 – V. Minuet; Concerto for violin and orchestra in G Major, K. 216 – III. Allegro; Piano sonata in a minor “Paris” K. 310 – I. Allegro; Symphony in G minor K. 183- Allegro con brio; Sinfonia Concertante K. 364 -- Allegro maestoso; (Aria) “Non piùandrai” (Le nozze di Figaro K. 492); (Aria) "Queen of the Night" (The Magic Flute K. 620); Piano concerto No. 24 in C minor K. 491 – I. Allegro; Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter" in C major K. 551; String quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465 'Dissonance’ I. allegro and adagio; and finally, Requiem K. 626.Introitus - Requiem aeternam. This categorical arrangement makes it easier to relate to the specific genres that were developed by Mozart.
Discussion
Mozart was a versatile composer writing in every major genre, such as opera, symphony, solo concerto, piano sonata, and chamber music including string quintet and string quartet. Although these forms were not new, Mozart advanced their emotional reach and technical sophistication. Albert, Herman in W. A. Mozart argued that he almost solely developed and popularized the classical piano concerto. The major characteristics of classical style are all present in the music by Mozart. The hallmarks of his works include balance, clarity and transparency.
1. Piano
The piano is a vital instrument in Western classical music, jazz and other complex western musical genres. A majority of composers such as Mozart were great pianists. For example, Mozart often used the piano when composing chamber music as an accompaniment. In that respect, classical piano music comes in several musical genres. First, a concerto comprises of an orchestral ensemble a soloist or a smaller group. The piano is the solo instrument in a piano concerto. The concerto is comprised of three contrasting movements: fast, slow and fast. Notable piano concertos include Chopin - Piano Concerto No. 1 and Mozart’s - Piano Concerto No. 1. Second is the piano sonata which is usually comprised of three to four movements, with the first movement always in sonata form. Next is piano trio and it is one of the most common forms of chamber music involving a piano and two other instruments; although the common instrumentations include piano, cello and violin. The fourth genre is the piano quintet which involves a piano with four other instruments. Lastly, solo piano comes in several genres, such as prelude, etude, polonaise, mazurka, and nocturne (Green).
The first selection for piano is Piano Sonata in A Minor “Paris” K. 310 – I. Allegro. It was composed in Augsburg and Mannheim on November-December 1777.This work has three movements namely: allegro con spirit, andante con espressione, and Rondeau allegro. The first movement is in the form of a sonata. While its first subject has a quasi orchestral opening, the second subject in the dominant key is quieter. The second movement has an episodic structure A-B-A-B-A-coda. The last movement is a sonata rondo. This piece was selected because it has a slow cadenza-like passage that contains a quick ascending chromatic scale leading back to the first theme (Irving, 1997).Instruments: piano, cello and violin, and strings.
The second selection of the piano is Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor K. 491 – I. Allegro. It is a concertante work for piano and orchestra. This piece was composed by Mozart when he was 25 years old C. 1778 while he was staying in Paris from April to September of that of 1786. Instrumentation: 2 oboes, flute, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 2 clarinets, strings, and timpani. It is the only piano concerto by Mozart that the soloist plays after the cadenza in the first movement. It is regarded as Mozart’s greatest work. This piece as selected because it has scores featuring the piano.
2. Orchestra
Orchestral music usually covers all the musical works for eleven or more instruments. Raynor reported that the most popular form of orchestral music is symphony and it ranges from string symphonies making use of between 12 and 14 string players to the huge symphonies of Mahler, many of which need more than 100 players. Other forms in the orchestral category include orchestral dances, symphonic poems, overtures, and incidental music for plays. A typical symphony orchestra is made up of four groups of same musical instruments called the brass, percussion, woodwinds, and strings. John Sptizer and Neil Zaslaw in The Birth of the Orchestra: History of an Institution, 1650-1815 indicate that a smaller-sized orchestra of about 50 musicians or fewer is called a chamber orchestra, whilst a full-sized orchestra of about 100 musicians is sometimes be called a "symphony orchestra or chamber ensemble.
Initially, orchestra music was composed of a standard core of instruments which were rarely modified. However, as time progressed, the Romantic period saw changes in accepted modification with composers in the 20th century beginning to hand-pick instrumentation. However, the modern orchestra has been standardized with the modern instrumentation such as percussion, strings, woodwinds, and brass with keyboard accompaniment. There are a majority of miniatures of this type, with specific focus for the violin, flute, cello, clarinet and oboe, often with descriptive titles. For somewhat larger appetites, there are also many accompanied sonatas dating from the period of Baroque onwards, usually in three or four movements corresponding roughly to symphonic structure. Duets also exist particularly for two instruments of similar family, such as the viola and violin, or flute and clarinet, even though pieces for almost any duo combination may be encountered.
As cited by Spitzer and Zaslaw, techniques such as polytempo and polystylism have resulted in a few composers writing music where several orchestras perform at the same time. As a consequence, these trends have brought about the phenomenon of polyconductor music, whereby separate sub-conductors conduct every group of musicians.
The first piece for the orchestra is Divertimento in D Major, K. 131 – V. Minuet. It was composed by Mozart Amadeus in 1773 at a place called Salzburg. Its catalogue number is K.131. It is the first divertimenti with strings and two horns, a scoring unto which Mozart composed greatest occasional music. The instrumentation include; orchestra, flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, 4 horns and strings. Its significance was that it supports harmonic and rhythmic texture of occasional music. Besides, it has long notes that are held through changes of harmony, thus producing both harmonic stability and beauty of sonority.
The second piece is Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in G Major, K. 216 – III, Allegro. It was composed by Wolfgang Mozart on 12 September 1775 in Salzburg. Steinberg established that this piece is in three movements namely allegro, adagio and rondeau. The allegro is in sonata form, opening with a G major theme. It is played by the orchestra. The core theme is bright and happy discussion, between the accompaniment and solo violin. The adagio has the movement in ternary form, and in the dominant key of D major. Lastly, the third movement is Rondeau Allegro. The instruments include; viola and violin, flute, string, trombones, and clarinet. This was selected because it opens with an orchestra theme.
The third piece is Sinfonia Concertante K. 364-Allegro maestoso. It was composed in 1779 on his tour of Europe, which included Paris and Manheim. The piece uses solo violin, two oboes and horns, solo viola, and strings, the latter including a divided viola section that accounts for the work's rich harmony. The solo viola part has been written in D major in place of E flat major. This technique is utilised mostly in performance on original instruments.
The fourth piece is String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465 'Dissonance’— I. Adagio – Allegro. It composed in 1782 and completed on January 14, 1785. It was a dedication to Joseph Hayadh. It signifies that we need to be remorseful to our departed friends. The instrumentation includes the cello, two violins and viola.
3. Opera
Cooke asserted that opera was born right at the beginning of the Baroque era, and even though stylistic approaches to the genre have been varied and numerous, the basic outlines have still remained remarkably consistent. It began in Italy at the end of the 16th century and soon spread across the rest of Europe. It is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera is defined by Andreas, Dorshel in 'The Paradox of Opera', as an art form where musicians and singers perform a dramatic work by combining text known as libretto and musical score in a theatrical setting. Dorshel added that opera usually incorporates numerous elements of spoken theatre, for ins...