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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Posthumous Painting of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Born
Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart [1]

27 January 1756
Salzburg
Died5 December 1791
NationalityGerman

The Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major (K. 313) was written in 1778 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Commissioned by the Dutch flutist Ferdinand De Jean in 1777, Mozart was supposed to provide four flute quartets and three flute concerti. He only completed two of the three concerti: K. 313 being the first.[2] The Andante for Flute and Orchestra K. 315 is said to have been written as an alternative slow movement for this concerto.


The piece itself is divided into three movements:


The Life of Mozart[edit]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 — 5 December 1791) was a German composer, keyboardist, and violinist of the Classical Era. He began performing for European royalty at the early age of five, and by six, he was touring with his sister, Maria Anna [3] For a small amount of time at age 17, he was a court musician in Salzburg, but quickly realized that he wanted to use his talents in a less provincial city. In 1777, He began traveling with his mother in search of work opportunities [4].. He was dismissed from the Salzburg court while away. In 1783, after settling in Vienna, Wolfgang married Constanze Weber, a daughter of a fellow family friend. It was during his stay in Vienna that he wrote a large proportion of his most popular works, including his Requiem. Theories behind his death are widely disputed today though it is placed in records as "hitziges Frieselfieber" or "severe military fever" [5]. His Köchel catalogue contains a total of 626 works, which includes operas, symphonies, concertos, string quartets, and sonatas[6]

Mannheim and the Commission of Ferdinand de Jean[edit]

While traveling Europe with his mother, Wolfgang spent about four months in the German city of Mannheim. During this time, Mozart became acquainted with a court flutist by the name of Johann Baptist Wendling. It was through Wendling that he came into contact with Ferdinand de Jean, a local physician and well-known medical scholar who commissioned the works from Mozart. De Jean requested that Mozart provide "three short, simple concerti and a couple of quartets for the flute" [7]. In exchange for the works, de Jean offered 200 gold pieces. Mozart was unable to complete the commission, releasing two flute concerti (K. 313 and 314) and three flute quartets. The second flute concerto, however, is merely a transposition of Mozart's oboe concerto, K. 314 [8].

Wolfgang and Leopold Mozart[edit]

Wolfgang's father, Leopold Mozart, was also a fellow composer and musician. Throughout the beginning of W. A. Mozart's career, his father supported him financially and assisted in finding jobs for him. Many letters were sent to Wolfgang from Leopold, directing him how to interact with the public and his fans. Leopold constantly scolded his son for his openness with others and often warned him against his free-spirited social habits. Mozart experienced a significant amount of pressure from his father throughout his career, and he was constantly providing excuses for not meeting standards. Leopold expressed strong disapproval of the marriage of Wolfgang and Constanze Weber, and did not accept or bless the marriage for multiple months. The father and son wrote letters to each other consistently all through the entirety of each of their lives[9].

Mozart's "Aversion" of the Flute[edit]

There is stipulation as to whether Mozart had a particular liking of the flute. The theories of his dislike of the flute are taken from a letter he wrote to his father in regards to why he had not finished the commission of Ferdinand de Jean.

"De Jean is also leaving for Paris tomorrow and, because I have only finished two concertos and three quartets for him, has sent me 96 gulden too little, evidently supposing that this was the half of 200): but he must pay me in full, for that was my agreement with the Wendlings, and I can send him the other pieces later. It is not surprising that I have no been able to finish them, for I have never a single quiet hour here. I can only compose at night, so that I can't get up early as well; besides, one is not always in the mood for working. I could, to be sure, scribble off things the whole day long, but a composition of this kind goes out into the world, and naturally I do not want to have cause to be ashamed of my name on the title-page. Moreover, you know that I become quite powerless whenever I am obliged to write for an instrument which I cannot bear. Hence as a diversion I compose something else, such as duets for clavier and violin, or I work on my mass." [10]

Though this has been said, there is no source that truly clarifies Mozart's liking or disliking of the instrument. It is possible that he feared the disappointment and anger of his father and merely claimed inaccurate reasons for his lack of completion of the commission. [11]

Flute Mechanism of the 1700's[edit]

In Mozart's era, flutists performed on a four-piece one-key flute. Like all contemporary flutes, this flute had a head joint with an embouchure hole into which air was blown. The two middle joints had three tone holes each. The foot joint had a seventh tone hole, but it was covered by a key; the lowest note was produced upon opening the key. Though the middle joint of contemporary flutes is one solid joint, the reason for the split joints in the 18th century was for the ability to adjust pitch for various pitch standards of the era. The lowest note of the flute at the time was a D natural, though this varied based on the air column produced by the individual. [12]

Instrumentation[edit]

The piece is scored for a standard set of orchestral strings, two oboes (which are replaced with two flutes in the Adagio movement), and two horns.

Movements[edit]

Main theme of Movement 1

I. Allegro Maestoso[edit]

Duration: Approximately 8.5 minutes

Movement one is written in sonata form. The exposition contains two themes, the first in G major and the second in the dominant of G, D major. The two themes also return in the recapitulation, but both return in the key of G. The main theme of the movement is considered to be a ritornello and returns many times throughout the movement in both the orchestra and the flute part [13].

Main theme Movement II

II. Adagio ma non troppo[edit]

Duration: Approximately 8.5 minutes

Movement two is written in the key of D major, the dominant of G major. The main theme is first introduced by the orchestra and then passed to the solo flute. Of the three movements of the concerto, this one in particular is more of a duet between the soloist and orchestra. Throughout the movement, the soloist and the orchestra create a musical dialogue while passing melodic lines back and forth.

Main theme of Movement III

III. Rondo: Tempo di Menuetto[edit]

Duration: 7:15 minutes

The recurring theme in the third movement is in the home key of G major. Contrary to the other movements of the concerto, the middle of this movement incorporates a lead in as opposed to a cadenza.

Performance Practice[edit]

The Appoggiatura[edit]

The word appoggiatura translates from the Italian word appoggiare which means "to lean upon." Musically, an appoggiatura creates tension and resolves to a scale tone. They are notated either as fully written out or as a grace note. The tension is caused by the first note of the appoggiatura and is meant to have a heavier emphasis than the resolution [14]. Some appoggiaturas are intended to occur on the beat, which are dubbed as "accented" appoggiaturas. Appoggiaturas that occur on the upbeats are referred to as "passing" appoggiaturas [15]. In theoretical terms, an appoggiatura is a melodic figuration in which pitch rises by a skip and resolves in the opposite direction by a step. In measure 66 of the first movement, an appoggiatura is used, rising from an F sharp to an A natural and resolving downward to a G natural. The A natural is the note upon which to be leaned.

Trills and Mordents[edit]

A consistent debate with earlier music is the starting note of a trill. Each trill begins with an emphasis on the first note. The first note of a trill, labeled as an appoggiatura, can either come from above or below. The starting note of a trill is dependent upon the voice leading of the phrase. The end of a trill is called the termination, or a turn (nachschlag) [16]. When trills are a shorter length, it is common to use a mordent instead of a full trill [17]. A mordent is a small turn of notes, rising one pitch and returning to the one before it. Trills and mordents are inserted throughout all of the movements of this concerto. In the exposition of the first movement, a trill from E natural to F sharp is used prior to the finish of the exposition. It is also common performance practice to insert mordents on notes that may not be notated in the score, in a sort of quick improvisation.

Cadenzas[edit]

Towards the end of both movement I and II, it is expected for the soloist to perform a cadenza. Cadenzas are often composed prior to performance but were more commonly improvised on the spot during the era that this concerto was composed. A cadenza is intended to take small lines/repetitions from the movement and weave them together. Often the goal of a cadenza is to catch the listener off guard, even in writing repetitions from the piece itself. Repetitions must be done only enough times such that it remains fresh to the listener [18]. Cadenzas are typically in keys that are related to the original key in some way. Modulations are acceptable but must have a logical progression and cadences in the original key. The end of a cadenza is typically a trill from scale degree two to three and resolving to the tonic [19]. In movement one, a cadenza is inserted at measure 215, and it finishes with a trill from A natural to B natural, resolving downward to G, the tonic. In movement two, a cadenza is inserted at measure 56, and the cadenza finishes with a trill from E natural to F sharp resolving downward to the tonic of D.


A lead in is similar to a cadenza, though it is of a shorter length than a cadenza, and is required towards the end of the third movement of this concerto. A lead in is inserted in movement three at measure 164.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 October 2015. Web. 1 November 2015.
  2. ^ Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major, K. 313 (K. 285c)]. G. Henle Verlag.
  3. ^ Woodstra, Chris, Gerald Brennan, and Allen Schrott. All Music Guide to Classical Music: The Definitive Guide to Classical Music. San Francisco, CA: Backbeat, 2005. 884-885. Print.
  4. ^ Bowers, Jane. "Mozart and the Flute." Early Music (1992): 30-39. Print
  5. ^ "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 October 2015. Web. 1 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Köchel catalogue." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 October 2015. Web. 1 November 2015.
  7. ^ Bowers, Jane. "Mozart and the Flute." Early Music (1992): 30-39. Print.
  8. ^ Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major, K. 313 (K. 285c)]. G. Henle Verlag
  9. ^ Schonberg, Harold C. "Prodigy from Salzburg." The Lives of Great Composers. New York: W. W. Norton, 1970. 75-90. Print.
  10. ^ Bowers, Jane. "Mozart and the Flute." Early Music (1992): 30-39. Print.
  11. ^ Bowers, Jane. "Mozart and the Flute." Early Music (1992): 30-39. Print.
  12. ^ Bowers, Jane. "Mozart and the Flute." Early Music (1992): 30-39. Print
  13. ^ Randel, Don Michael, ed. "Ritornello Form." The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. 2nd ed. 1986. Print.
  14. ^ Debost, Michel. "Appoggiatura." The Simple Flute: From A to Z. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. 21-22. Print.
  15. ^ Quantz, Johann Joachim, and Edward R. Reilly. "Of the Appoggiaturas and the Little Essential Graces Related to Them." On Playing the Flute. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 91-100. Print.
  16. ^ Quantz, Johann Joachim, and Edward R. Reilly. "Of Shakes." On Playing the Flute. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 101-08. Print.
  17. ^ Kujala, Walfrid. "A Guide to Trill Choices in the Mozart G Major Concerto." The Flutist's Handbook: A Pedagogy Anthology. Santa Clarita, CA: National Flute Association, 1998. 111-15. Print.
  18. ^ Quantz, Johann Joachim, and Edward R. Reilly. "Of Cadenzas." On Playing the Flute. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 179-95. Print.
  19. ^ Karafotis, Samuel. "The Composition and Performance Practice of the Cadenza in the Classical Era." McNair Scholars Research Journal 2.1 (2010): 155-64. Digital Commons at EMU. Web. 3 Nov. 2015. <http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=mcnair>.

Bowers, Jane (1992). "Mozart and the Flute". Early Music, Oxford Journal. Oxford University: Oxford University Press.

Category:Concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozart 01 Category:Compositions in G major Category:1778 compositions

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