Eine kleine Nachtmusik [A Little Night Music] Divertimento in G for strings
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Eine kleine Nachtmusik [A Little Night Music] Divertimento in G for strings
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Eine kleine Nachtmusik, KV 525 is one of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s most popular and best-known works today. This was not always the case: the composition was first printed around 1837, almost 50 years after Mozart’s death, and for a long time lagged far behind Musikalischer Spaß, KV 522, which was composed at almost the same time. The composition only began its triumphal march around the world in the 20th century through radio and recordings.
The original title refers to its use in the evening and at night. Night musics (nocturnes) were usually written on the occasion of friends’ name days or on commission. The exact circumstances of the composition of the work, which Mozart entered in his own handwritten catalog of works on August 10, 1787, are not known.
Contrary to the genre designation Serenade, which originated not from Mozart but is only found in the first print, it is apparently a Divertimento. This has consequences for performance practice, as Serenades are orchestral, while Notturni and Divertimentos are chamber music pieces.
that Eine kleine Nachtmusik, KV 525 is a fragment?
Mozart gave the exact sequence of movements in his own handwritten catalog of works: “consisting of an Allegro, Minuet and Trio. - Romance. Minuet and Trio, and Finale”. The first minuet movement, which according to Divertimento tradition was in second place in the original five-movement work, was lost—perhaps even during Mozart’s lifetime. The reason for this is that Mozart had originally conceived the slow movement differently. He did not simply cross out the first draft, a Larghetto in C, KV 525a, but tore the leaf out of the autograph; however, this also meant that the first half of the double leaf, on which the first minuet and trio stood, became loose and was subsequently lost.
Serenades and cassations are two types of orchestral music typical of Salzburg, intended for outdoor performances. These compositions were usually commissioned works, either for private occasions or for university events, such as the end-of-academic-year celebrations (*Finalmusiken*). They typically contain more than five movements, and many begin and end with a march (see Work Group 13a). In keeping with Salzburg traditions from the 1750s and 1760s, Mozart’s orchestral serenades consist of movements of different types: the first and last movements are usually symphonic allegros, followed by a slow movement in a different key and typically two pairs of minuets with trios. A distinctive Salzburg feature is the inclusion of 2–4 movements with solo instruments following the opening allegro, often in a key different from that of the main work.
The use of varied movement types encouraged selected movements to be performed independently: Mozart himself reworked most of his orchestral serenades into symphonies by reducing the number of movements to three or four. Sometimes the solo movements were reused as concertos or as concertante symphonies. Some of Mozart’s cassations are more modest in scoring and scale than his serenades; however, in southern Germany and Austria, the two terms were used largely interchangeably.
Autograph, 1787
Partitur: 7 Bl. (13 beschr. S.)
Erstdruck, 1827
SÉRÉNADE/ pour/ deux Violons, Alto,/ Violoncelle et Contrebasse,/ composée par/ W. A. Mozart./ [No 2 der nachgelassenen Werke./] No 4964. Edition faite d'après la partition originale. Prix f 2.-/ -// A Offenbach s/m, chez J. André.
Stimmen
Abschrift, 1859
Partitur: 21 S.