Program Notes | Sept. 22, 2012 | Mozart’s Austria, Brahms’ Germany
Notes researched & written by Joan Olsson
WOLFGANG A. MOZART
1756 - 1791
Piano Concerto #17 ( K453) in G Major - 1784
Mozart had the single-mindedness of genius. From the age of 4 until his death at age 36, he rarely had a day's rest from one activity of music or another, judging from the mountain of compositions, journals, and diaries documenting his short life. Music was going on in his head continuously and probably in his sleep as well. The composer's ego caused tempestuous interactions with his royal employers who treated all staff like servants — whether kitchen or entertainment employees.
Biographers have suggested that health problems were partially a result of years of uncomfortable, continental traveling by horse and carriage. Mozart's debts resulted from irresponsible squandering of money when earning power was often high from commissions. From court composer he became a free-lance artist/composer without benefit of steady income, but subject to theft due to lack of copyright laws.
The boy's musical education began at age four when he copied the actions of his older sister who was being instructed on the piano by father-musician Leopold. It was he who capably guided the instruction necessary for the two talented children's musical growth and development. The downside of this was that Leopold's own professional advancement was sacrificed so that Wolfgang's music might provide financial stability for the whole family.
Young Mozart began continental concertizing lasting until the "child prodigy" status could no longer apply to his genius showmanship. And yet, included in the exhausting, continental tours was exposure to every kind of music written and heard in Europe. Absorbing all with his uncanny memory, the young Mozart's compositions evolved into the perfect blend of Italian, German, and French styles. Most influential were the years of 1770-1773 spent in Italy where this bilingual teenager sopped up the country's musical past and present. It is small wonder that composing operatic music came with ease and resulted in immediate success.
Most of the works contributing to the great composer's fame and popularity were written during his last ten years. Although this decade was artistically fulfilling, it too was top-heavy with disappointments and financial problems. And yet the over-burdened "bread-winner" was able to escape from his personal problems by returning to his work stand to create hours of music. His attention to music shut out all distractions.
Piano Concerto #17 (K453) of l784 is one of 27 piano concertos published during his lifetime and written at the peak of his career as an acclaimed virtuoso. While perhaps not as technically challenging as other Mozart concertos, this serenade demands a super-sensitive keyboard "touch" to create a quick ebb and flow of dynamic effect.
The First Movement begins with 75 bars of orchestral music built around six melodies — all displayed before the solo pianist enters the scene. This was to share a spectrum of harmonic "colors" in a conversational rapport between the orchestra and piano. The music charges ahead in good humor that includes a jocular bassoon episode.
The Second Movement consists of five themes and moves into remote keys with intensity. Recurring effectively are dramatic silences, in addition to a five-measure refrain as a fixed point of return between one new idea and the next. A mood of passionate melancholy remains even after the pianist's elegiac cadenza.
The Third Movement (Finale) is a set of five variations based on a chirping tune delivered by flutes and violins. The theme of this final movement is built on a theme possibly "composed" by Mozart's pet starling. It was never clear to anyone whether bird or composer had thought up the 4-measure theme. There were two minor differences in the renderings. The starling insisted on adding a # and a pause but Mozart refused the modification.