Program Notes

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Oboe Quartet in F Major, K. 370 (1781)

Notes for: July 14, 2009

Mozart wrote the Oboe Quartet in 1781, the pivotal year of his life. This was the year when Mozart cut his ties with his family and home town of Salzburg and struck out on his own as a freelance musician in Vienna. Reflecting his growing adulthood, the quartet was his first really mature piece of chamber music.

In the years preceding, Mozart had been in the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg, working as a violinist and court organist. As it may be recalled from the film Amadeus, Mozart detested the archbishop for his meanness as an employer and his insensitivity to music. The young composer had made repeated efforts to develop an independent livelihood away from Salzburg, traveling as far as Paris to seek a position, but these efforts had proved fruitless, adding to his frustration.

In 1780, Mozart got the break he was seeking. Friends in Munich succeeded in winning for him the commission of an opera to be performed at the Munich Carnival the following year. Further, the ruling elector invited him to come to Munich to supervise the production. The archbishop was reluctant to let Mozart go, but more fearful of offending the elector, his superior in rank. He finally gave Mozart a six-week leave of absence, which Mozart stretched to four months.

From the day he arrived in Munich, his visit was a success. He was warmly greeted by the elector, who attended many of the rehearsals and invited him to the palace. The singers were pleased not only by the music but also by Mozart’s facility in improvising changes to accommodate their vocal strengths and limitations. The resulting opera, Idomeneo, was enthusiastically received at its premiere in January, and established once and for all Mozart’s reputation as a dramatic composer. And in Munich’s exuberant carnival, Mozart, whose natural high spirits had been repressed in Salzburg by the archbishop and his own father, found ample opportunity to let his hair down.

On his return to Salzburg, Mozart was ordered by the archbishop to accompany him to Vienna. There Mozart found his life in stark contrast to that in Munich – he had to live with the archbishop’s household staff and dine at the servants’ table. The archbishop liked the prestige of appearing in society with Mozart in tow as his domestic virtuoso, but he denied Mozart permission to give a public concert or play on his own in any other residence. At the same time, he refused to pay Mozart for his services, and the composer was strapped for spending money.

Mozart’s frustration reached the breaking point. When the archbishop announced his plans to return to Salzburg in June, Mozart, his self-confidence buoyed by his experience in Munich, asked permission to remain in Vienna. The furious archbishop refused to grant or deny his request. For better or worse, Mozart decided to remain in Vienna anyway – the myth is that he mooned the archbishop on the way out of the room – and Vienna remained his residence for the remaining ten years of his life.

The Oboe Quartet stems from the encouraging sojourn in Munich. There Mozart renewed an acquaintance with Friedrich Ramm, an oboist whom he had met earlier in Mannheim, the home of Europe’s finest orchestra. Ramm was more than an oboe virtuoso – according to a contemporary account, “no one has yet been able to approach him in beauty, roundness, softness and trueness of tone combined with the trumpet-like depth of his forte.” Somehow Mozart found time between opera performances and social engagements to compose the quartet for his admired colleague.

As might be expected, the quartet is really a bit of a concerto for the oboe. However, Mozart keeps the oboe part primarily in the instrument’s upper register, avoiding, except for a few contrasting passages, the instrument’s lower notes, which modern audiences find attractive. Perhaps the lower notes were coarser in quality in the oboes of Mozart’s day.

The oboe’s prominence notwithstanding, the quartet represents a major advance for Mozart over his earlier chamber works. While Mozart had not yet learned from Haydn the importance of balancing the four instruments of a quartet, the strings are not mere accompaniment – in many passages they weave counter-melodies to the oboe. Further, he found many subtle ways to integrate the voices and to vary the musical texture.

The first movement is in regular sonata form and illustrates Mozart’s ability to exploit the pungent quality of his featured instrument. The Adagio, only 37 measures long, is in D minor, always a moving key with Mozart, and is really an aria for the oboe with string accompaniment. The final movement – there is no minuet – is a sprightly rondo in 6/8 time. In a surprising 13-measure passage in the middle of the movement, the oboe shifts into 4/4 time while the other instruments retain the 6/8 until the oboe comes to its senses.

Copyright © 2009 by Willard J. Hertz

Notes for: August 12, 2014

Mozart wrote the so-called “Oboe Quartet” – that is, for oboe and three strings -- in 1781, the pivotal year of his life. This was the year when he cut his ties with his family and home town of Salzburg and struck out on his own as a freelance musician in Vienna. Reflecting his growing adulthood, the quartet was his first really mature piece of chamber music.

In the years preceding, Mozart had been in the service of Hieronymus Colloredo, the Archbishop of Salzburg, working as a violinist and court organist. Mozart detested the Archbishop for his meanness as an employer and his insensitivity to music. He had made repeated efforts to develop an independent livelihood away from Salzburg, traveling as far as Paris to seek a position, but these efforts had proved fruitless, adding to his frustration.

In 1780, Mozart got the break he was seeking. Friends in Munich succeeded in winning for him the commission of an opera to be performed at the Munich Carnival the following year. Further, the ruling Elector invited him to come to Munich to supervise the production. The Archbishop was reluctant to let Mozart go, but fearful of offending the Elector, his superior in rank. He finally gave Mozart a six-week leave of absence, which Mozart stretched to four months.

From the day he arrived in Munich, his visit was a success. He was warmly greeted by the Elector, who attended many of the rehearsals and invited him to the palace. The singers were pleased not only by the music but also by Mozart’s facility in improvising changes to accommodate their vocal strengths and limitations. The resulting opera, Idomeneo, was enthusiastically received at its premiere in January, and established once and for all Mozart’s reputation as a dramatic composer. And in Munich’s exuberant carnival, Mozart, whose natural high spirits had been repressed in Salzburg by the Archbishop and his own father, found ample opportunity to let his hair down.

On his return to Salzburg, Mozart was ordered by the Archbishop to accompany him to Vienna. There Mozart found his life in stark contrast to that in Munich – he had to live with the Archbishop’s household staff and dine at the servants’ table. Further, while the Archbishop liked to appear in society with Mozart in tow as his domestic virtuoso, he denied Mozart permission to give a public concert or to play on his own in any other residence. At the same time, he refused to pay Mozart for his services, and the composer was strapped for spending money.

Mozart’s frustration reached the breaking point. When the Archbishop announced his plans to return to Salzburg in June, Mozart, his self-confidence buoyed by his experience in Munich, asked permission to remain in Vienna. The furious Archbishop refused to grant or deny his request. For better or worse, Mozart decided to stay in Vienna anyway, and Vienna remained his residence for the remaining ten years of his life.

The Oboe Quartet stems from the encouraging sojourn in Munich. There Mozart renewed an acquaintance with Friedrich Ramm, an oboist whom he had met earlier in Mannheim, the home of Europe’s finest orchestra. Ramm was more than an oboe virtuoso – according to a contemporary account, “no one has yet been able to approach him in beauty, roundness, softness and trueness of tone combined with the trumpet-like depth of his forte.” Somehow Mozart found time between opera performances and social engagements to compose the quartet for his admired colleague.

As might be expected, the quartet is really a bit of a concerto for the oboe. However, Mozart keeps the oboe part primarily in the instrument’s upper register, avoiding, except for a few contrasting passages, the instrument’s lower notes, which modern audiences find attractive. Perhaps the lower notes were coarser in quality in the oboes of Mozart’s day.

The oboe’s prominence notwithstanding, the quartet represents a major advance for Mozart over his earlier chamber works. While Mozart had not yet learned from Haydn the importance of balancing the four instruments of a quartet, the strings are not mere accompaniment – in many passages they weave counter-melodies to the oboe. Further, he found many subtle ways to integrate the voices and to vary the musical texture.

The first movement is in regular sonata form and illustrates Mozart’s ability to exploit the pungent quality of his featured instrument. The adagio, only 37 measures long, is in D minor, always a moving key with Mozart, and is really an aria for the oboe with string accompaniment. The final movement – there is no minuet – is a sprightly rondo in 6/8 time. In a surprising 13-measure passage in the middle of the movement, the oboe shifts into 4/4 time while the other instruments retain the 6/8 until the oboe comes to its senses.

Copyright © 2014 by Willard J. Hertz