Serenades were the fast food of musical life in the late 1700s, often completed in haste
for immediate consumption at a specific social event. They were usually intended for a
single performance. Mozart's serenades conveyed feelings common to serenades of his
time (tranquility, contentment, cheerfulness, and grace), yet progressed beyond these
qualities to a new expanse of the emotional landscape. The outer movements of Mozart's
serenades often exhibit a new exuberance and vibrancy while the slow movements
penetrate to deeper levels of expression. When these qualities are combined with fresh
liveliness in the dance movements, the overall effect of contrasts and more varied
emotional expression gives Mozart serenades his unique individual mark. His serenades
convey a sense of abundance and his faith in the power of beauty to create a world of
possibility.
"Gran Partita" was not Mozart's title for the Serenade No. 10 in Bb, but was a title
written in an unidentified hand on the autographed score. The title "Great Serenade" is
fitting, for few compositions can match this serenade's display of Mozart's brilliance in
writing for wind instruments. This work of early maturity is scored for two oboes, two
clarinets, two basset horns (a now obsolete member of the clarinet family), two bassoons,
four horns and one double bass.
The grandeur of the opening chord embraces the listener immediately. Throughout the
Gran Partita, Mozart matches the clarity of individual instruments with the warmth of the
full ensemble. This interplay is particularly poignant in the introduction where the
richness of twelve players is contrasted with a single clarinet. After the regal
introduction, the first movement enters into the lively first theme in sonata form. Here, as
in many places throughout the work, is an example of the clarinets and basset horns being
the recipients of delicate writing for small ensembles. Haydn's influence is noticed in the
technique of extending the first theme to create the second theme. With an unusual twist,
Mozart introduces new material in the development, and then resurrects the original
themes as anticipated in the recapitulation. The two stately Minuets of the second and
fourth movements include two trios of a fluid, delicate nature. The trios contrast in
character, key, and instrumentation to the formal minuets, providing a rotating palette of
textures and colors.
Perhaps it is the Adagio which speaks more passionately than all the rest. Its glory is in
its simplicity and the expansiveness of the solo lines. Only in this movement do all of the
instruments play continually (with the exception of the third and fourth horns which rest
throughout), creating a background quarter note pulse upon which three solo instruments
weave in and out. The oboe relishes long sustained notes while the clarinet and basset
horn take daring leaps to highlight their rich tone colors. This technique of using the
changing backdrop upon which solo instruments are placed was later used by Dvorak and
Strauss in their writing for wind instruments. The Romanze movement is in ABA form
with three clearly delineated sections of which the first and third are similar. The
tranquility of the outer sections in Eb is reminiscent of the beauty found in the Adagio
while the contrasting middle section in C minor is propelled forward by perpetual
bassoon motion. The contrast of motion and rest is very evident in the return to the last
slow section.
The Theme and Variations may have been based on the second movement of Mozart's
Quartet in C for flute and string trio, K. 285b. The first three variations are charming and
stay safely within the opening key of Bb. It is in the fourth variation that the mood
becomes mysterious, helped along by a shift to Bb minor. Though variation five changes
back to Bb where it stays until the end of the movement, the mood is dramatically
different. A new texture is heard with undulating clarinets and basset horns creating a
misty backdrop for the solo oboe. The final variation is a Ländler, an Austrian dance very
much like a waltz. The closing Rondo is perpetual motion, a grand flourish to the end.
The second of the two episodes makes use of the small instrumental group to contrast
with the larger ensemble as Mozart often does in the first movement. The exuberance of
the Rondo is a grand finale to a masterpiece.
The Gran Partita's date of original is shrouded in mystery. For what occasion was it
written? Whom did Mozart intend to perform the work? We do know the autograph
shows signs of being constructed with great care rather than in haste, and the manuscript
paper is the same as that used by Mozart in 1781-82. Also known is that the first
performance was at the Burgtheater in Vienna for Anton Stadler's benefit on March 23,
1784, and that the Serenade is not included in Mozart's own thematic catalog started in
February of 1784.
There are three plausible theories concerning the date of composition which are
congruent with the established facts. The 1781 theory by Alfred Einstein suggests the
Gran Partita was conceived in Munich while Mozart was there for his production of
Idomeneo and written in Vienna in early 1781, but no evidence exists that Munich had
the clarinet and basset horn players equal to the challenge of this serenade.
The theory of 1782 places the creation of the Gran Partita around the same time as the
octets and his other wind works. This theory is derived from a note added to Mozart's
August 7, 1782 letter to his father describing his wedding to Constance: "During supper I
was surprised by a concert from sixteen wind instruments, who played my own
compositions." It is impossible to know if the work referred to was the Gran Partita (were
there 13 or 16 players?) or if the work was written for the wedding. The analysis of paper
type also supports composition in Vienna in 1781-82. This theory has strong possibility.
The most widely known theory sets the composition date in 1784. It is known that four of
the seven movements were performed in March of 1784, at a benefit concert for Anton
Stadler, the clarinetist of the National Theatre. The concert was announced in a Vienna
newspaper which stated that the concert would include "a big wind piece of quite an
exceptional kind composed by Herr Mozart." The paper did not assert that the piece was
new or composed specifically for this event. In 1785, the Literarische Fragmente reported
on the Serenade No. 10: "I heard music for wind instruments, today, by Herr Mozart, in
four movements—glorious and sublime! It consisted of thirteen instruments, viz four
corni, two oboi, two fagotti, two clarinetti, two basset-corni, a contreviolin, and at each
instrument sat a master—Oh what an effect it made—glorious and grand, excellent and
sublime." 1784 is clearly the latest date of composition, but problems still remain with it
being the date of creation. Mozart began his own thematic catalog in February of 1784.
The Gran Partita is not listed there. It seems incredible that the omission would be an
error on Mozart's part considering the fact that he so recently started the catalog, and that
a performance of the Gran Partita was pending.
Though there are other wonderful recordings of the Gran Partita, the lure of working with
such a masterpiece was too great to resist. The decision to immerse ourselves deeply in a
work of such beauty, to live it, to be overpowered by it, to love it, was a time of joy and
gratitude. To connect with excellence and be inspired by human potential was worth
every moment of the journey. Richard Wagner said of Mozart in Prose Works, "He
breathed into his instruments the passionate breath of Human Voice, that voice toward
which his genius bent with overmastering love. He led the stanchless [sic] stream of
teeming harmony into the very heart of melody; to give it that depth of feeling and
fervour that forms the exhaustless source of human utterance within the inmost chambers
of the heart."
—Kathleen Macferran
Mozart's Gran Partita CD Notes
Serenade No. 10 in Bb, K.361, Wolfgang A. Mozart