Post by erik on Jan 29, 2023 0:25:17 GMT -5
This week's Classical Works Spotlight looks at the second of Mozart's four earliest piano concertos, which were in truth pastiches of much lesser-known works by composer who were also far less well-known than the wunderkind from Salzburg.
Mozart: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 IN B FLAT MAJOR, K. 39
While Mozart would master many forms in the short time allotted on this planet to him, including symphonies, operas, choral works, and such, one particular area in which he excelled was in the form of the piano concerto. His concertos were to give the modern piano (in his day the pianoforte, which was an outgrowth of the harpsichord of the late Baroque and early Classical period) more than its fair share of enduring works. For his part, Mozart is said to have written twenty-seven concertos for the piano. This, however, takes into account for concertos from his eleventh year, 1767, that were pastiches of sorts of other far lesser known composers’ piano sonatas. Such was the case with what is known as his Second Piano Concerto. Scored for strings, pairs of oboes and horns, plus solo piano, the Second Piano Concerto had its first and third movements taken from the Violin Sonata, Op. 1/No. 5 by the early 18th century German composer Hermann Frideric Raupach, while the F Major slow movement was taken from the Violin Sonata, Op. 17/No.4, of another German composer of the era, Johann Schobert. Although this “pastiche” concerto was conceived at first by Mozart’s father Leopold to teach him the basic structure of the concerto form, Leopold did not necessarily consider them works by his son officially. The four concertos were hardly even known to most audiences before pianist Murray Perahia made it his job in the mid-1980’s to put them in the recording studio, which he did by conducting the English Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard for CBS/Sony Classics.
Piano: MURRAY PERAHIA
English Chamber Orchestra/MURRAY PERAHIA (Sony)
Included
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN F MAJOR, K. 37
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3 IN D MAJOR, K. 40
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4 IN G MAJOR, K. 41
Mozart: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 IN B FLAT MAJOR, K. 39
While Mozart would master many forms in the short time allotted on this planet to him, including symphonies, operas, choral works, and such, one particular area in which he excelled was in the form of the piano concerto. His concertos were to give the modern piano (in his day the pianoforte, which was an outgrowth of the harpsichord of the late Baroque and early Classical period) more than its fair share of enduring works. For his part, Mozart is said to have written twenty-seven concertos for the piano. This, however, takes into account for concertos from his eleventh year, 1767, that were pastiches of sorts of other far lesser known composers’ piano sonatas. Such was the case with what is known as his Second Piano Concerto. Scored for strings, pairs of oboes and horns, plus solo piano, the Second Piano Concerto had its first and third movements taken from the Violin Sonata, Op. 1/No. 5 by the early 18th century German composer Hermann Frideric Raupach, while the F Major slow movement was taken from the Violin Sonata, Op. 17/No.4, of another German composer of the era, Johann Schobert. Although this “pastiche” concerto was conceived at first by Mozart’s father Leopold to teach him the basic structure of the concerto form, Leopold did not necessarily consider them works by his son officially. The four concertos were hardly even known to most audiences before pianist Murray Perahia made it his job in the mid-1980’s to put them in the recording studio, which he did by conducting the English Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard for CBS/Sony Classics.
Piano: MURRAY PERAHIA
English Chamber Orchestra/MURRAY PERAHIA (Sony)
Included
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN F MAJOR, K. 37
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3 IN D MAJOR, K. 40
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4 IN G MAJOR, K. 41