10 Mozart works you might not know
So you think you know your Wolfgang? Misha Donat uncovers 10 works you might not have heard before...
Ch’io mi scordi di te?, K505
Mozart’s concert-arias are a treasure trove of neglected masterpieces. ‘Ch’io mi scordi di te?’ is actually an aria and miniature piano concerto rolled into one, showing us just how closely related are the worlds of Mozart’s operas and concertos.
Davide penitente, K469
Mozart salvaged the music of his great unfinished Mass in C minor, K427, by turning it into an oratorio with new words, and adding two spectacular arias. The music itself places grand Handelian choruses cheek by jowl with passages in operatic style.
Adagio & Rondo in C minor, K617
The most ethereally beautiful of the shorter pieces Mozart composed at the end of his life combines the unique sound of the glass armonica with a quartet consisting of flute, oboe, viola and cello.
Sonata in F major for piano duet, K497
This grandest of all Mozart’s piano duets is in effect a symphony in disguise, complete with an imposing slow introduction. The last two movements, in particular, find Mozart revelling in his contrapuntal mastery.
Adagio for two clarinets & three basset horns, K411
The mellow sound of clarinets and their lower-pitched cousins called basset-horns gives Mozart’s wind writing a special character. This piece scored for them has a velvety sonority that lends the music a nostalgic quality.
Fantasia in F minor, K608
One in a small group of pieces for a mechanical organ, that Mozart wrote in his last year. Its intense and dramatic outer sections enclose a middle section in the form of a serene series of variations.
Suite for piano, K399
In 1782, Mozart became fascinated by Bach and Handel. He completed no more than the Overture, Allemande and Courante of this Baroque-style suite, but they stand comparison with the corresponding movements in Bach’s Partitas and English Suites.
Zaide, K344
This Singspiel, a forerunner of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, was left incomplete, but it’s full of great music. Mozart’s use of melodrama – music interspersed with spoken dialogue – is striking.
Masonic funeral music, K477
Opening with deep ‘sighs’ on the oboes, echoed by three basset-horns and double-bassoon, this is one of the most tragic and austere of Mozart’s orchestral pieces. The use of a plainchant melody from the Lamentations of Jeremiah adds to the atmosphere of grief.
Duos for violin & viola, K423 & 424
These two miraculous pieces are the portal to the inner workings of chamber music. The two players are treated as equals virtually throughout, and Mozart’s scoring for this slenderest of ensembles is endlessly inventive.
Can you think of any other forgotten Mozart works? Comment below, we'd love to hear them!
