MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5
By Rachel Barton Pine
‘You have no idea how well you play the violin. If only you would do yourself justice and play with boldness, spirit and fire, as if you were the greatest violinist in Europe!’ Thus Leopold Mozart (himself a fine violinist, respected composer and famous pedagogue) admonished his son Wolfgang Amadeus in 1777.
Mozart began violin lessons at the tender age of six, under the primary tutelage of his father. As a touring child prodigy, he performed on both violin and keyboard throughout Europe. At the age of 13, Mozart became second concertmaster of the Archbishop of Salzburg’s court orchestra. He frequently led the orchestra and took solo parts, often in his own works. But by 1777, Mozart’s concert activities were focused on the piano, and his preference for the viola was well established. Difficult and sophisticated viola parts feature prominently in the greatest chamber works from the last decade of his life. He usually favored the viola for playing chamber music, such as for the famous quartet evenings with Haydn, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and Johann Baptist Vanhal.
The exact order in which Mozart composed his five violin concertos is unknown. The last three were written in 1775 when he was 19. Analyses of his handwriting and the manuscript paper suggest that the first concerto was composed two years earlier. For stylistic reasons, it is believed that the second concerto also must have been written prior to 1775. It is uncertain whether Mozart composed these five concertos for himself or for Antonio Brunetti (who replaced him as concertmaster) as both men had parts in their possession.
All five concertos follow the same structure. The first movements are in sonata form with a double exposition (the first taken by the orchestra and the second by the soloist) and a cadenza at the end of the recapitulation. The second movements are in a contrasting key to the outer movements. They are also in sonata form and offer a cadenza just before the concluding phrase.
The final movements of four of the concertos are rondos. While the finale of K207 is in sonata form, an alternate rondo (Rondo in B flat major, K269) also exists. The rondos of K216, K218 and K219 each feature a middle section of a contrasting and individual character. This may partially explain their popularity over K207 or K211. Before each return to the rondo theme, the soloist plays a miniature cadenza – like flourish that serves as a connecting bridge.
K219 in A major is the longest as well as the most original and adventurous of Mozart’s violin concertos, featuring some daringly imaginative structural experiments. The first movement is marked Allegro aperto (‘open’, ‘frank’), a rare indication in Mozart’s instrumental music (though more common in his operas). The joyful opening tutti is followed by a surprise – the soloist enters with a tender Adagio. An interlude of this kind does not appear in any of Mozart’s other concertos, and even in this movement the Adagio material is only heard once. After this brief digression, the soloist continues to startle by playing an entirely new Allegro melody while the orchestra repeats the original opening theme of the exposition, now transformed into an accompaniment. The soloist introduces additional new material of such a dramatic nature that one can almost imagine an operatic dialogue taking place between two characters, at times flirtatious, sentimental, anxious, and even angry. The second movement is calm, filled with graceful sighing figures and lovely melodies of an almost painful beauty. After the poignant development section, the main theme returns as a brief fugato. Inexplicably, Brunetti was dissatisfied with this movement and requested are placement that became the equally gorgeous Adagio in E major, K261.