(program)
Westminster recording , Printed in U.S.A.
W. A. Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Symphony No. 40 (1788)
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Boult
Symphony No.40
- Molto Allegro
- Andante
- Menuetto: Allegretto - Trio - Menuetto
- Allegro assai
When we were children we were hell bent
Or oblivious at least
But now it comes to mind, we are terrified
So we run and hide for a verified little peace‘RABi’ — Bon Iver
reading through Paul Johnson’s Mozart, i’ve been running into excerpts from his many volumes of letters that hint at a portrait of the composer starkly different, perhaps even contrary, to the Mozart that’s often described in concert programs in contemporary performances. far from being stiff and pretty, the letters of Mozart depicts a character of immodest sensibilities, of ‘a mind not slow and dull, but quick and piercing of wit,’ as Milton described his ideal English prototype a century before Mozart. above all, he valued humour almost as much as his music. this combination of the comedian and musician was incidentally the subject of my interview with the TSO’s assistant Concertmaster this week.
Dearest Coz Fuzz!… Today the letter setter from My Papa Ha! Ha! dropped safely into my claws paws. I hope that you too have got shot the note dote which I wrote… “” Mozart in a letter to Maria Anna Thekla: November 5, 1777
it’s funnier if you read that with a rapper’s cadence. perhaps Eminem’s voice (i’m thinking of ‘Stan’ in particular). if i had to pick, letter-writing would be the one bygone literary fad that i wish would come back to public conscience. Mozart’s family took letter-making almost as seriously as music lessons, though the playful—and often scatological—humour of the 18th century german-speaking public is evident in their writing:
So tell your mother, please, that I love her always….As long as she shall have a crack in her behind. Stay healthy dearest friend, in joy and merriment, and play from time to time a little fart duet. “” Mozart in a letter to his wife: October 23, 1777
continuing my ongoing month-long stretch of Mozart pieces. his Symphony No.40, of the three symphonies Mozart wrote in the summer of 1788, remains the most popular. it shares an almost identical structure to No.39 from last week, though in a much more festive air. the first movement, which leaps out with the same momentum that the last of No. 39 concluded, is the focus of this week’s post.
No other movement in a Mozart symphony has provoked quite such a wide range of approaches as this first movement. The marking is Molto Allegro, with a time signature of two beats in a bar, not four (some early editions wrongly give it four beats in a bar). Recorded performances have varied in pace to an astonishing extent - the fastest are literally twice the speed of the slowest. The consensus today is that Mozart really must have meant quite a fast two-beat pulse. Even at a quick tempo, some conductors seem anxious to soften or beautify the opening theme, But the unsoftened terseness is surely the point. “” Robert Philip, The Classical Music Lover’s Guide
the first movement (0:20 to 8:22 in the video above) is about the most Mozartian sound i can imagine. it’s grand, yet sprightly, dramatic but without taking itself too seriously. the movement’s engine runs on a little three-note motif that begins the symphony, is repeated thrice on violins—above viola accompaniment—to form the first theme. the orchestra responds to this with a sweeping tutti and the quiet second theme, passed between strings and wind instruments, emerges.
true to sonata form, Mozart repeats the movement thus far before stepping into the development section. the opening theme is passed from basses to violins and the violins pass the three-note motif to woodwinds over a sustained note on bassoon. until now this motif has ended with a cadential punctuation on the third note, but the woodwinds invert its structure so that it’s now a rising phrase. there’s an outburst on strings, to which the woodwinds respond with a melancholic melody and the movement ends with a reprise of the first theme.
(song of the week: ‘RABi’ — Bon Iver)
can’t believe it’s been nine months since Bon Iver’s i,i was released. that makes now the perfect time for me to return to the album and sift through it song by song. at the moment i think ‘RABi’ is still my favourite song on the album. the first i heard it was at the Sonic Boom ‘listening party’ back in august—the usual awkward Toronto affair wherein everyone, save for a precious few, stand around and fulfill the bare minimum of socializing, being there and yet not quite there.
grateful as i was for the opportunity provided by Sonic Boom to listen to the album ahead of the release, the very shit speakers did not quite live up to the hype. so me and those precious few had to huddle round the loudest of them to make out bits of songs that we would nodoubt be cry-singing at the Bon Iver concert in october. even at Sonic Boom that afternoon, i could already hear in ‘RABi’ the same release, easiness, cathartic unmooring that usually characterizes the last song in Bon Iver albums. as examples: ‘Beth/Rest’ in Bon Iver, ‘Re:Stacks’ in For Emma, For Ever Ago, ‘00000 Million’ in 22, A Miliion.
Some life feels good now, don't it?
Don't have to have a leaving plan
Nothing's gonna ease your mind
Well it's all fine and we're all fine anyway
it’s barely audible, but after ‘Well it's all fine and we're all fine anyway’, you hear ‘But if you wait it won’t be undone’. it’s a refrain of sorts that you also hear at the top of the song. it wasn’t until the Bon Iver concert that i realized ‘If you really want me, I’m down’ was in fact not the lyrics. that realization added yet another dimension to the song: the contradiction, or perhaps the dichotomy, between a desire to lie open in the sun that the song draws out of me and the drum beat, now now now, to hurry on to the next thing—cuz ‘if you wait it won’t be undone’.
Throwback to: Year 2, Week41, Year 1, Week41
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