THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
Concerts for Members
THIRD YEAR
A Program of Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 17, 1945
AT 8:30
IN THE MORGAN WING

PROGRAM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1756-1791

String Trio in E flat major, Divertimento, K. V. 563
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Menuetto, Allegretto
Trio
IV. Andante (theme with variations)
V. Menuetto, Allegretto
Trio I
Trio II
VI. Allegro
Joseph Fuchs, Violin; Lillian Fuchs, Viola
Leonard Rose, Violoncello

Duo in G major for violin and viola, K. V. 423
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Rondeau, Allegro
Joseph Fuchs, Violin; Lillian Fuchs, Viola

INTERMISSION

Serenade No. 10 in B flat major for two oboes, two clarinets,
two basset horns, four horns, two bassoons, and contrabassoon,
K. V. 361
I. Largo""Allegro molto
II. Menuetto
Trio I
Trio II
III. Adagio
IV. Menuetto, Allegretto
Trio I
Trio II
V. Romanze (Adagio""Allegretto""Adagio)
VI. Tema con Variazioni (Andante)
VII. Rondo (Allegro molto)
George Szell, Conducting

Members of the New. York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra:
Oboes:
Harold Gomberg
Engelbert Brenner
Clarinets:
Gino Chioffi
Otto Conrad
Bassett horns:
Samuel Feinsmith
Pasquale Fasanella
Horns:
Joseph Singer
Adolph Schulze
Luigi Ricci
Robert Schulze
Bassoons: Contrabassoon:
William Polisi Robert Sensale
James Dickie

NOTE
Playing a woodwind instrument for long periods is
a strain on the lungs of the player. In symphonic
works the woodwinds speak alternately, and rarely
for long stretches of time. In wind serenades, however,
the instruments speak continually. There was no
harm in this for the players in Mozart's time, because
music of the divertimento and serenade type was not
performed attacca, but in pauses determined by the
nature of the festivities of which the music was a part,
for instance, the sequence of the courses offered in
the collation. As the Museum's cafeteria does not yet
excel in rococo refreshments, we beg the indulgence
of the audience for intervals longer than usual between
the movements of the Serenade.

Department of Musical Activities
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
CONCERTS FOR MEMBERS
SECOND SERIES
PROGRAM NOTES for Saturday, February 17, 1945
MUSIC BY MOZART
PLAYED BY JOSEPH FUCHS, LILLIAN FUCHS, AND LEONARD ROSE
AND BY A WIND ENSEMBLE OF MEMBERS OF
THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
CONDUCTED BY GEORGE SZELL

This evening, which will be entirely devoted to music by Mozart, presents two outstanding works of the divertimento type and one of his two string duets: there is, therefore, ample opportunity to compare and admire his orchestration in compositions of various degrees of instrumental complexity, from his ingenious two-part writing up to his imaginative handling of a big woodwind orchestra.
The Divertimento and the Serenade, K.V. 361, are unusual pieces, the Divertimento being the only string trio written by Mozart, the Serenade employing the biggest woodwind ensemble Mozart ever used as a separate body. Some of Mozart's divertimenti have been heard before in these Members' Concerts: the Divertimento in D major for strings and two horns, K.V. 334, in 1943, and several divertimenti for woodwinds and horns last year. As the program notes for those concerts dealt with the purpose and character of divertimento music, we may refer our readers to them.

STRING TRIO IN E FLAT MAJOR, DIVERTIMENTO, K.V. 563
This work, among the most mature of chamber-music works, is one of the longest and most important string trios ever written. Within the short span of Mozart's life it must be reckoned as a late work. It was written in 1778 in Vienna, after Don Giovanni and immediately after the three great symphonies, in E flat major, in G minor, and in C major. It is Mozart's only trio for violin, viola, and violoncello, and for this combination it is of remarkable scope.* Mozart calls it a divertimento and, indeed, it has six movements, two of them minuets, the second with two trios. But if the term *'divertimento" indicates loose style and modest structure, it cannot be said to apply to this work. The fine balance between the movements, the concise form of each of them, the delicacy of the thematic organization equal those in the best chamber-music works by Mozart.
All the musical forms of the classical Viennese period are represented here: sonata form, minuet and trio, variations, and rondo.
I. Allegro. This movement is built upon three thematic ideas:
(1) a six-bar theme built on the E major triad, descending
in half notes to the dominant and then ascending in quarter notes:
(2) a tender bel-canto-like song theme:
(3) a small melodic pattern with strong syncopated accents presented in a sequence right from the start:
The movement is in sonata form. The development section begins with a bold modulation on theme 1 and follows up with an elaboration of theme 3, the three instruments crowding on each other's heels in close imitation.
The unexpected way in which the recapitulation is introduced is a stroke of genius. It appears with the main theme in its original key, softly preceded by a modulation from quite distant harmonic regions, so that we have no suspicion of being so near to the closing of the circle until it actually happens.
II. Adagio in A flat major. This movement also is in sonata form. Particularly interesting, and indicative of Mozart's mature style, is the fact that the elaboration of the material presented by the exposition section occurs in two installments: first in the development section, which is very short (eighteen measures), but chiefly in the recapitulation section, which actually proves ""as frequently in Haydn's work""to be a second development. Another feature which reminds us of Haydn is the thematic economy. The first subject starts with the major triad in the violoncello. The song theme ("second subject")""or, more precisely, the melody which we find where the song theme ordinarily appears""is nothing else than the first subject, presented by the first violin, somewhat embellished, and spun out so much that it covers almost four octaves.
III. Menuetto, Allegretto. This movement has the remarkable length of 287 measures, including the repeats. The theme is again based entirely on the E major triad but with a clever shifting of rhythm that wedges a theme of even rhythm into the 3/4 time of a minuet.
IV. Andante. This movement is an enormous set of variations. Its form is highly complex; for the variations do not follow in single sequence one by one, but in pairs, every two dovetailing. The theme and the variations each consist of two periods of unequal length, one, which we may call "a," of eight measures, and the other, which we may call "b," of sixteen measures. Their arrangement is as follows:
Theme a Var. I a Theme b Var. Ib
8 ms 8 ms 16 ms 16 ms
Var. II a Var. Ill a Var. lib Var. Illb
8 ms 8 ms 16 ms 16 ms
Var. IV a Var.Va Var. IV b Var.Vb
8 ms 8 ms 16 ms 16 ms
After these three double variations, this complex system is abandoned: the last two variations, Minore and Maggiore, follow, each by itself.
As the Minore deals only with portions of the theme, it has fewer measures. It is, however, in triple counterpoint, with the subjects entrusted to the three instruments systematically changing places. If the Minore variation is a triumph of sophistication, the Maggiore employs simpler means. The variation theme is reduced to its essentials; above this solemn legato melody are the staccato passages of the violin in thirty-second notes, beneath it is a figured bass in sixteenths, in the manner of old church music, and between these two figurations the variation theme strides on like a chorale, until a quiet coda, with an imitation between the violin and the violoncello, brings the movement to a close.
V. Menuetto, Allegretto. This movement starts with a figure, played by the violin and the viola, which imitates the characteristic fifths of the horn.
Both Trios have the sturdy rhythm of Deutsche Tanze (alla tedesca), but, with their free modulation and their graceful, melancholy tenderness, they remind us of Schubert's dances. In the first trio the theme is presented by the viola, in the second by the violin, while the other instruments add the characteristic jumping bass.
The last repetition of the Menuetto is followed by an exceptionally long coda, which, just before the journey's end, takes the opportunity of reshuffling merrily once again the themes of the minuet.
VI. Allegro. This movement seems at first glance to be a rondo. It is in a cheerful allegro tempo and starts with a typical songlike rondo theme that evidently comes out of the same bag as Mozart's tender, naive "Spring Song," which was also used for the rondo in the Piano Concerto K.V. 495. Moreover, this theme is cleverly and surprisingly introduced in its many returns, as is proper in a rondo. In a real rondo, however, new themes are forever appearing, numerous new episodes are interspersed between the reappearances of the rondo theme. But such is not the case here, where all the thematic material is furnished by four principal melodies.
As a rule, these melodies occur in the same order, but there is a long modulating middle section in which two of the themes, a and b, appear in skillful elaboration "" a feature which, structurally, is an element of a sonata movement. In short, here there seems to be a blending of the rondo with the sonata form. The following diagram may give a rough idea of the structure, e meaning "elaborated," s meaning "shortened":
s e e e
abed a b ab cdabd
Exposition Transition Development Recapitulation
and Coda
The "orchestration" of the work""if we may use this term for an ensemble of only three instruments""deserves a separate chapter. We must leave it to the listener to admire the fullness and sweetness of the harmony in this threepart writing, the ingenious use of the viola, and the imaginative exploitation of the registers of the instruments, the violoncello part, for instance, often clambering above the viola and even the violin part, and so on. The partwriting here is an example of real democracy: there is no permanent leader, there are no fellow travelers; rather, all the partners are individuals speaking in their own right, saying their own say, exchanging ideas, and alternately taking the lead only to call forth the other partners' ideas on the subject. Despite the difference in style, one is reminded of other great examples of three-part writing, for instance, Johann Sebastian Bach's Inventions and his organ trio sonatas. Beethoven, only ten years later, followed Mozart's single String Trio with three of his own, Opus 9; one of these was performed in the first series of Members' Concerts, on March 20, 1943.

DUO IN G MAJOR FOR VIOLIN AND VIOLA, K.V. 423
Both Mozart's duets for violin and viola (K.V. 423 and 424) were written in the years between The Escape from the Seraglio (1781) and The Marriage of Figaro (1786), the same important creative period in which he wrote the six string quartets dedicated to Joseph Haydn. In form and in the independent voice-leading the two duets are intimately related to the quartets. In contrast to the quartets, however, the two-part setting makes possible a freedom and a mobility of the two instrumental parts such as one finds usually only in concertos: we find double-stopping, arpeggios, fast virtuoso passages, and""chiefly in the violin""great leaps in the melody such as are hardly possible in the more compact four-part writing. The polyphony, or rather, the specious four-part harmony which is here conjured up out of two actual parts, has to be heard to be believed. We find later a similar virtuoso employment of two-part writing in Mozart's works, in some of his piano sonatas, for example, in the first and last movements of the Sonata in D major, K.V. 576.
I. Allegro. This is in sonata form, the development section starting with an elaboration not of the main theme but of a secondary passage of the exposition.
II. Adagio. It is amazing what fullness of harmony is here achieved by two string instruments only. Especially interesting is the viola part, which alternates between the real harmonies of doublestopping and the broken harmonies which, although they consist of one-line melodic passages, create the impression of polyphony.
III. Rondeau, Allegro. This is an elegant rondo with four returns of the rondo theme, the last already introducing the coda. Most interesting is the section between the second and third return that forms the center and the most elaborate part of the whole movement. This whole section consists of two canons, a longer one in E minor and a shorter one in G minor, with a free episode, in G minor, in between.

SERENADE No. 10 IN B FLAT MAJOR FOR WOODWINDS AND HORNS,
K.V. 361
The Serenade K.V. 361, though one of the most interesting works of this type, is unfortunately almost never performed nowadays, but the writer recalls performances at musical festivals in Vienna and Salzburg in pre-Nazi days. The orchestra includes, besides the horns, the entire woodwind ensemble known in Mozart's time, with one exception, the flute, which did not enjoy Mozart's favor in wind ensembles. There are four single-reed instruments (two clarinets and two basset horns), four double-reed instruments (two oboes and two bassoons), four brass""or, to use the scientific term, "lipvibrated""" instruments (the horns), and one contrabassoon.
Particularly notable are the basset horns, with their soft, mournful, silvery tone, unforgettable to every lover of the Requiem and of The Magic Flute. Strictly speaking, they are no more "horns" than the "English horn," but a development of the alto clarinet, though with a longer tube and narrower bore. The basset horn was not invented until Mozart's time. In the eighteenth century it was made in many different shapes, with straight or with bent tubes, and so forth. Eighteenth-century examples can be seen in Case 27 in the display of instruments adjoining the concert hall. The other instruments of the ensemble can also be seen there.
The work gives an insight into Mozart's imaginative and in many respects revolutionary instrumentation. His countless melodic ideas""capricious, tender, humorous, at times deeply nostalgic "" are expressed in bewitching sounds never before heard. The Serenade is magnificently conceived. It contains no less than seven movements, among them two minuets, each with two trios.
I. Largo""Allegro molto. A slow introduction in the manner of Haydn opens the work and leads into an allegro in sonata form. The development also presents new thematic material.
II. Menuetto with two Trios. The energetic minuet, in B flat major, is fully and strongly orchestrated, and each of its sections ends with a tender, soft refrain played by the first clarinet. The two trios contrast with each other both thematically and instrumentally. The first is a cantilena-like legato played by a soft, sweet-sounding quartet composed of two clarinets and two basset horns. In the second trio the clarinets and two of the horns keep silent, while all the other instruments speak. While the minuet is in B flat major, the first trio is in its subdominant, E flat major, and the second trio in its relative minor, G minor.
III. Adagio in E flat major. This is the spiritual and emotional center of the work. Even in Mozart's writings it is outstanding for its romantic magic, recalling the atmosphere of Don Giovanni, Cost fan tutte, and some of Mozart's sacred music. A softly tapping rhythm is kept up throughout the movement in the middle voices, and beneath this, in the contrabassoon and the second bassoon, there is an inexorable, striding figure in equal eighth notes. Over this rhythmic pulsation sings the spacious, sighing cantilena, alternately presented by the first oboe, the first clarinet, and the first basset horn.
In view of the melancholic, solemn atmosphere of this movement one can understand that this serenade was later on transformed into an Offertorium. (Incidentally, the ensemble scenes of Figaro and Don Giovanni were likewise transformed into choral music.)
IV. Menuetto, Allegretto. In the second minuet also, with its two Trios, the keys are contrasted:
Minuet, B flat major
Trio I, B flat minor
Trio II, F major
The first trio, played by the full orchestra, is of a rustic sturdiness; the second, a soft handler played in unison or octaves by the first clarinet, the first basset horn, and the first bassoon.
V. Romanze. This unusual movement is tripartite, opening with an elegiac adagio section in A flat major. Then follows an allegretto in C minor, in a striking rhythm and strangely colored by the employment of the harmonic minor scale. The repetition of the adagio and a long, tranquil coda bring the movement to a close.
VI. Tema con Variazioni (Andante). The first three variations follow the principle, usual with Mozart, of gradually increasing the rhythmical liveliness by introducing richer and faster figuration in each successive variation.
Variation 4, in minor, is built on appoggiatura figures. It is quiet and suppressed, with only occasional sforzandos.
Variation 5 is an adagio, with the theme in the first oboe over a ground of magically whispering thirds in the basset horns and clarinets.
Variation 6, Allegretto, is in fact another Menuetto.
VII. This witty and merry Rondo conjures up the figure of the buffoon Osmin and with it all the Turkish phantasmagory of The Escape from the Seraglio. The rondo theme (a) appears three times, interspersed with numerous small eight-bar episodes (b, c, etc.) in the following sequence:
abed a e f g h a Coda
EMANUEL WINTERNITZ
* There exists a Trio in B major for two violins and violoncello, K.V. 266, which, however, dates much earlier and uses the violoncello only for the bass accompaniment.

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