Art Blogging Contest

Please vote for Musical Perceptions in the Art Blogging Match of Doom

Thursday, April 24, 2008

More Mozart...can we ever get enough?

To answer my title...No! I still love him, even if this piece is purely instrumental!
Okay, so I have to admit I really liked this, despite it's lack of lyrics. It had a wonderful melody, and I loved the way Mozart continued to move the melodic motive between the four instruments, allowing us to hear it in different octaves and intervals, adding to the depth of the sound.
Down to the nitty gritty:
The first 41 measures are the exposition of the sonata. The first theme is in measures 1 through 8, followed by a transition that ends in measure 24, leading to the second theme, from measures 25 to 33. It then has a closing theme that lasts until measure 41, when the entire exposition is repeated.
The exposition has a lot of really cool stuff going on! It is very dramatic at the beginning with the held D that then slurs down and octave, with the low grouped eighth notes pressing beneath it. Mozart then ups the drama in measure 6, as he takes the melody up into the higher notes of the atmosphere, keeping them grounded by the ever-present pulsing violin 2 on D4. Then comes the transition, which is wonderfully playful, especially with the long runs that shift down gradually to the four instruments (ex. measures 12 - 14). Then fun, winding section ends with a huge chord that almost surprises the listener after the cascading runs of the previous three measures. It grabs your attention, and keeps it, as it continues toward the second theme. But before we get there, there is some serious fun going on in measure 23 with little jumps in the violin 1 part, which sounds like skipping, at least to me...it feels like Mozart saying, "here we go, second theme, I can't wait!" Then comes the second theme, which is very different from the first to emphasize his kind of ADD-like attitude, ending with more fun runs...can't get enough! And he makes them sound so grounded with the other three parts that continue bold patterns on the chords. And, finally, the closing theme has a wonderful "chase" in measures 37 - 39...not really sure how to describe it more than just a race to the finish line, but then he steals it away, as it preceeds a repeat of the entire exposition.
Okay, now for the meat of the sandwich! Here comes the development, where Mozart takes everything and musses it up a bit! The development is even more dramatic than the exposition, especially the beginning, which uses a hard hit chord to emphasize its beginning and then continues with lots of close chromatic chords in the violins and faster notes in the bass, just to mix things up from the norm. Not to mention the low bass is pushing the lower octaves, adding an intensely deep sound...Awesome! Okay, then it picks up, propelling the movement forward with many groups of eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and syncopations in all four voices. It also has a lot of chromaticism, especially in measures 50 and 52. Mozart not only brings back the first and second themes and then plays with them, but he also plays around with motives in different hands again...kind of tying the piece together in a small way.
Finally, he brings back the other piece of bread for our sandwich...and, for those of you who don't know, I have recently found out that I am allergic to wheat and can no longer eat bread, possibly causing my weird analogies to sandwiches. Anyway, the bread is back, perhaps with some mayo and mustard on this side, as it is a bit expanded from the original.
Alright, that's about all I have to say...I really like this piece...fun to listen to...and now bed!

No comments: