# Overlooked Orchestral Mozart Compositions



## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

What are some orchestral pieces Mozart composed that you feel don't quite get the recognition they quite deserve? And it can be anything involving an orchestra as long as it is purely instrumental (concertos and opera overtures count, but not works with vocals). List a few. They can be works as a whole, or specific movements.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Really the only orchestral works without vocals I can think of that may not get the attention they deserve are a few of the serenades excluding his two most famous ones like the Haffner or Posthorn. Some people are reluctant to really explore these works because of the stigma associated with serenades, notturni, and divertimentos as inherently uninteresting because they were meant to be enjoyed as background music, but Mozart being as much a genius as he was a professional, still managed to compose some of his most imaginative music for them. There was a quote by John Burke I really liked who wrote about Mozart's approach to this music: "For the most part, Mozart used simple means to please his casual listeners, capturing their attention with wit, attaining distinction with his sensitivity to balance and color, his lively and unfailing imagination…. He neither wrote above the heads of his audience, nor did he demean his art." Among my favorites are these two short Notturni:





 - This one probably being one of his most humorous works, especially the last movement where each of the soloists gets a short cadenza before the return of the main theme, including the timpanist.





 - This notturno's a great example of Mozart's ability for finding and incorporating a countless variety of pastoral expressions - allusions to sounds of nature, folk-song quotations, use of drones and horn calls, musical references to the hunt, extensive use of dance forms, etc.

Can't think of many other works outside the serenades other than one-off, single movement pieces like the E major adagio for violin and orchestra. The Masonic Funeral Music is also really good if you haven't heard it.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Agreed - the Haffner Serenade and Posthorn are superb

here is the famous rondo from the haffner


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## Pyotr (Feb 26, 2013)

Here are two of my favorites that might fit this discussion. The Sinfonia Concertante K. 364 (which is actually his 6th violin concerto) and the Sinfonia Concertante K. 297b(wind concerto).

Heifetz - Primrose (don't miss this)


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Pyotr said:


> Here are two of my favorites that might fit this discussion. The Sinfonia Concertante K. 364 (which is actually his 6th violin concerto) ... Heifetz - Primrose (don't miss this)


I love Heifetz in the Romantic violin concertos, but I'm not too sure about this. Gramophone recently had an article, "The best recording of Mozart's Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola", and say the following about this version, which I agree with:

"... while the forward motion is welcome, it all feels too pressed, with strong beats over-emphasised. Heifetz's bright, febrile violin tone and Primrose's aristocratic viola are an uncomfortable match, both in the Andante and the hard-driven outer movements. Overall, there is virtuosity aplenty, with Heifetz in aggressive ascendancy, but precious little wit or affection. The violinist remarked that in his younger days he hadn't much cared for the Sinfonia concertante. On this evidence, he still didn't." - Richard Wigmore

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature...t’s-sinfonia-concertante-for-violin-and-viola

I have the Grumiaux/Davis version, which I prefer to this; I think Grumiaux warm, less hard driven approach generally works better in Mozart. But think Grumiax/Davis do a better job in the Violin Concertos (not to be missed!), and I am looking for a better version. Wigmore again:

"In a performance from the same 1960s vintage conducted by Colin Davis, the ever-cultivated Arthur Grumiaux consistently outguns the dusty-toned viola player Arrigo Pelliccia in polish and fantasy. Again, solo violin and viola are very forwardly balanced; and it's hard to gauge whether it's the fault of performers or recording that the potentially breathtaking entry of the soloists is forthright and prosaic. On the plus side are Grumiaux's plangent tone and tenderly shaped phrasing in the Andante and the unusual urgency he brings to the minor-keyed themes in the opening movement."

Wigmore, from the multitudes, plumps for: Iona Brown vn Lars Anders Tomter va Norwegian Chamber Orchestra (Chandos)

It's on Spotify:

https://play.spotify.com/album/6tYghs4eQgiCEIeY9sccra

I like it. It seems to maintain the warm of Grumiaux/Davis but fixes the problems Wigmore specifies. (The modern digital sound is also very impressive, adding to impact and orchestral detail - which really helps in this piece.)


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