Mozart / Divertimento in B-flat major "Lodron", K. 287

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Divertimento in B-flat major "Lodron", K. 287 (1777)

00:00 - Allegro
08:26 - Thema mit Variationen. Andante grazioso
09:35 - Variation I
10:45 - Variation II
11:50 - Variation III
12:52 - Variation IV
14:07 - Variation V
15:11 - Variation VI
16:19 - Menuetto
19:25 - Adagio
30:14 - Menuetto
34:32 - Andante - Allegro molto

Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble (1984)

"The Divertimento in B flat, K. 287, is a genuine divertimento, complete with two minuets, an ingratiating theme-and-variations movement and a poignant 'Adagio', all sandwiched between two 'Allegro' movements. The strings are bolstered by two horns, which add a substantial orchestral timbre. Mozart composed the work in 1777 for a generous Salzburg patron, Countess Antonia Lodron, for whom he composed several other pieces. He was evidently pleased with this one because he performed it more than once in Munich a few months later.

The work is a masterly blend of artful craftsmanship and puckish humor. The two-chord opening salvo sets a grand tone that is carried through the first 'Allegro,' except for a brief reference toward the end to an Austrian country dance. But the heraldic tone returns with the brief coda.

The second movement opens with a catchy theme voiced by the first violin. Each of the six variations that follow has its own character -- the third features the horns, the sixth is full of fast fiddling over legato horns -- but all are cast in the same elegant 'Andante grazioso' of the theme's first statement. There's a little joke here, though: That theme was familiar to Mozart's contemporaries as the tune of a popular song, 'Heißa, hurtig, ich bin Hans und bin ohne Sorge,' which translates roughly as, 'Hey! My name is Hans, and I haven't a care in the world.'

The first menuetto begins as a stately dance, but gives way to a G minor trio that foreshadows the more profound voice of Mozart's later years. The 'Adagio,' for strings only, is full of lyricism and gentle longing. This extended section is the heart of the work.

The second minuet moves away from the sorrowing mood of the 'Adagio,' but hardly prepares us for the witty finale. Marked 'Andante -- Allegro molto,' the last section opens with portentous chords and a lugubrious recitative for the solo violin. Suddenly the fiddle reverses its field and launches into a sprightly tune that Mozart's listeners recognized as a folk song called 'The farmer's wife has lost the cat.' The first violin then leads the ensemble on a virtuoso fling (Mozart claimed to have played this part to dazzling effect in Munich) that includes several other popular airs. The 'Allegro' comes to a brilliant end -- after a sly reprise of the somber opening recitative -- with the farmer's wife still looking for her cat." - Harvey B. Loomis

Painting: Berlin Klosterstrasse, Eduard Gaertner

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