Re: Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto

["Cline, Eric" <Eric.Cline@REICHHOLD.COM>]

                I have a question that's going to show off how little I know
about the
                history of music.


                Was Mozart's music performed by other musicians under other
directors in his
                own time?

Mozart wrote some of his piano concerti for students to perform such as
Barbara Ployer - who had a major crush on him BTW. He even wrote out the
cadenzas for her.

                When he didn't bother to write out all the parts for the
left
                hand, say, did he really expect other pianists to complete
the score with
                significant additions when they performed it, or was the
lack of
                completeness merely for his own benefit, a  type of
shorthand for himself,
                as in "why bother to write all this stuff down when I'm the
only person
                who's going to be performing them and I know how the play
the concerto
                already?"

The only one of the Mozart piano concerti that I know that Mozart didn't
provide a complete set of left hand parts in the concerto no.26. This is the
famous "Coronation Concerto". Mozart wrote it in late 1790 for the
coronation of Emperor Leopold II. Interestingly it was conducted by Antonio
Salieri with Mozart at the piano. It may be that Mozart was very pressed for
time (he was known for his procrastination) and that he simply didn't have
time to flesh out the piano part. He may have intended to do so later, but
other projects and finally death in 1791 prevented that. Mozart left many of
the wind and brass parts out of the score also. It has been conjectured by
some that the concerto was intended for piano and strings only or a small
chamber orchestra. The wind and brass parts were probably added by an editor
who noticed the missing left hand parts as well. But it was performed in
1791. How Mozart handled the missing wind / brass parts in unknown.
He also a few years earlier gave his Mass in c minor to be performed in
Salzburg with sections of the Credo missing and the entire Agnus Dei section
missing. But I digress.

Joseph Haydn wrote many of his scores in shorthand and then gave them to a
copyist who knew how to decipher his shorthand and convert it to a useable
score. Mozart didn't have this luxury as he had no paid post and had to do
everything himself. There is also evidence that sometimes Mozart would start
a work, write only a few bars, set it aside and then years later, pick up
the work and complete it as if nothing had happened in between. In the last
sting quartets for example, the first few pages are written on a type of
paper Mozart used in his youth, and the rest is written on paper he used in
the late 1780's. Mozart left many unfinished works in this state such as a
concerto for piano and violin and a sinfonie concertante for violin, viola
and cello. He may or may not have planned to complete them.

                In more general terms, how prevalent was the practice of
performing other
                composers works during Mozart's time?

It was quite common. Mozart's Symphony No.37 in G major KV.444 is a great
example. Except for the orchestral introduction which Mozart wrote, it is by
Michael Haydn. Mozart needed a symphony for a concert and simply didn't have
time to write one - so he borrowed from Michael Haydn (Joseph's younger
brother). Mozart wrote all of his wind and horn concerti for other
performers. However, performers of that day were also expected to be
composers and perform their own works. Giovanni Punto - a horn player that
Mozart wrote for, also composed horn concerti. BTW Mozart's horn concerti
were not written for Punto - They were written for a hornist whose name
escapes me here at work. In one of the scores Mozart, taunted him playfully,
by writing the parts in different colours and writing "Mozart took pity on
[I can't remember the name] ox, ass and fool" . In some of the more
difficult passages he wrote comments on this person's playing ability.

Well I strayed a bit off topic here. I hope this answers your questions.

Regards,

Eric Cline x 8116
Senior R & D Chemist
Emulsion, Urethane & UV Polymer Synthesis
Reichhold, Inc.
North American Coatings Business
e-mail: eric.cline@reichhold.com <mailto:eric.cline@reichhold.com>
http://www.reichhold.com <http://www.reichhold.com>
(Click here to go to the Reichhold home page)


                -----Original Message-----
                From:   Jim Morrison [mailto:jim_morrison@SPRYNET.COM]
                Sent:   Wednesday, August 30, 2000 9:53 PM
                To:     F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
                Subject:        Re: Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto

                I have a question that's going to show off how little I know
about the
                history of music.


                Was Mozart's music performed by other musicians under other
directors in his
                own time?  When he didn't bother to write out all the parts
for the left
                hand, say, did he really expect other pianists to complete
the score with
                significant additions when they performed it, or was the
lack of
                completeness merely for his own benefit, a  type of
shorthand for himself,
                as in "why bother to write all this stuff down when I'm the
only person
                who's going to be performing them and I know how the play
the concerto
                already?"

                In more general terms, how prevalent was the practice of
performing other
                composers works during Mozart's time?


                Thanks,


                Jim