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MOZART

FLUTE QUARTETS

CAMILLO WANAUSEK

flute

MEMBERS OF

EUROPA QUARTET

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CAMILLO WANAUSEK (flute) with members of EUROPA QUARTET

Gustav Swoboda, violin; Fritz Haendschke, viol; Richard Harant, cello

Mozart is the symbol of objectivity in musical creation. His work stands for the consummation of an all-embracing craftsmanship combined with a well-bred behavior. that would not license psychological dispositions to orient the progress of a composition, technically as well as expressively.

Such an observation may allow (as it does oftener than generally suspected) the formation of an erroneous opinion concerning the dominant character of Mozart’s music: He is a master craftsman, undeniably, but his music is lacking im temperament; it has no real profundity; it is pretty, but rarely beautiful; besides, it always sounds more or less the same. :

Although by absolute standards a similar opinion might have the virtuality of a sound judgment as its basis, from the historical point it represents a wrong perspective. Mozart is perhaps the only figure in the history of our art who represents, totally and unequivocally, the principles of classicism at their purest.

Largely due to the intangibles of his innate qualities, of his being a child prodigy in particular, he found himself perfectly adapted to the idealized requirements of his profession, as they stood in his time. He got thoroughly con- ditioned by the musical world surrounding him, and achieved a perfect synthesis of its various (and often conflicting) elements—hence his genius, if. we adhere to a definition of “genius” as a supreme ability to form a synthesis.

Mozart’s obedience to what we refer to now as the principles of classicism in music was wholly natural. Unless one is completely aware of this unforced sub- mission, one would be inclined to deny the presence of human values in Mozart’s art. That in his later years, which were so full of hardships, his music acquires a quality which is sometimes described as “‘subjective” lays another trial ground for the presence of this human element. Its increased degree now is by no means stipulated by a reversal in stylistic attitude. Never deliberate in keeping his subjectivity under control, or apparently giving it a leeway now and then, he greatly differs from the twentieth-century neo-Classicist who, his immediate ancestors being the romantics and the expressionists, has to check his emotions in full consciousness in order to have his identification with a semblance of classical norms verified.

The four quartets, recorded here, offer further justification of Mozart’s uncompromising, undeviating attitude toward his craft. Attesting to this, are the circumstances under which they were composed vis-a-vis the inherent quali- ties of these works. In September 1777, Mozart then a young man of 21, and already in the throes of financial distress having lost his job in the service of the Archbishop at Salzburg, took a journey to the west in search of financial secur- ity. After two unfruitful stop-overs at Munich and Augsburg, he arrived at Mannheim, then the main musical haut-lieu of Europe, and found there old friends who were willing to help him. These included the Cannabich and the Weber families, whose daughters (Rosa Cannabich, and particularly Aloysia Weber) were enough of a source of distraction for him, and also Johann Baptist Wendling, the flutist of the Mannheim orchestra, who not only provided him with free room and board at his house, but also secured him a commission from a wealthy Dutch amateur named de Jean (or Deschamps) who agreed to pay two hundred gulden for a number of compositions for the flute, including, as Mozart wrote to his father, “three short, simple concertos, and a couple of quartets ...”? The old man, left behind with a view of warming up his all too cool relations with the Archbishop, and very much concerned with his. son’s financial progress, was happy to hear the news. What ensued, however, was more a reason for his increased anxiety than anything else. Months had elapsed, and Wolfgang Amadeus was still not through with the commission. What’s more, he informed his father that he was extending his stay in Mannheim to be able to finish the music entirely at his leisure. The deal finally got to a close when Mozart delivered three quartets and two concertos, and Monsieur de Jean paid him ninety-six gulden. “But he must pay me in full, for that was my agreement with

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Quartet in CA major, K 298

Quartet in DO major, K 285

Quartet in C major, K 285b6-CApp.r7

Quartet in G major, K285a

the Wendlings, and I can send him the other pieces later” he explained to his father. He never sent the other pieces later, and was never paid in full.

He simply was not in the mood for work, as he made it plain in an often- quoted letter to his father. Dated September 14th, 1778, the letter also includes the famous sentence relative to Mozart’s dislike for the flute: *. . . you know that I become quite powerless whenever I am obliged to write for an instrument which I cannot bear” he told his father. Did he really dislike the flute? Was it only a passing aversion? Or just an excuse to stir the understanding of his rightly impatient father?

If we take his words literally, we shall have one more verification of his impartial attitude toward his craft. Despite his confessed antipathy, Mozart wrote some of his most personal music for the flute. One only has to consider the solo part of the G major Concerto, the supremely eloquent Adagio of the D major quartet, and also the flute parts of his later piano concertos. In the least, his writing for the flute is always of an optimum fluency, consistently grateful for the instrument, and never revelatory of any half-hearted approach. In’ this respect, it is not in disagreement with the absolute efficiency of his workmanship in any other medium, whether vocal or instrumental, _

After a fairly elaborate sonata-allegro movement, the lengthier of the three de Jean quartets, the D major (K.285), reaches a high point in the Adagio, which is described by Alfred Einstein as “perhaps the most beautiful accom- panied solo ever written for the flute.” The final movement, a Rondo, follows without pause, an anticipatory device which was quite often employed in the nineteenth-century.

The two other quartets are relatively simple works. They reveal, in their two movement form, Mozart’s consideration for Johann Christian Bach. The first movement of the C major quartet (K.285b., App.171) is, moreover, fash- ioned after a sonata in G major by J. C. Bach. In the concluding second move- ment Mozart introduces a theme he later used in the sixth movement of his Serenade in B-flat (K.361)—not only the theme, but the variations also are analogous. In the present work, the theme is followed by four variations, each bringing to the fore an individual instrument in a solo capacity. The most im- pressive moments of the work are found in the serene majesty of the adagio episode preceding the lively final variation. In the first movement of the G major quartet (K.285a) we have one more example of Mozart’s exquisite cantilena writing, which imparts the “vocal” character of his writing for any medium, whether vocal or instrumental. The work, consisting of an Andante and a Menuetto only, gives the impression of incompleteness, as does an intended four movement work, short of its two outer movements. Wouldn’t these two quartets make one complete sonata work, the C major supplying the two outer movements, and the G major the inner two?

The fourth quartet (in A major, K.298) starts with a variations movement, which is followed by a menuetto where Mozart employed in the trio section an old French folk tune, Il a des bottes. The final movement is based on a theme (Chi mi mostra ...) from Paisiello’s opera buffa Gli schiavi per amore (The Slaves of Love). There is some disagreement as to when this quartet was com- posed, and where. According to Alfred Einstein it was written in Paris during 1778. The third movement, bearing such a grotesquely distorted indication as Rondieaoux-Allegretto grazioso, ma non troppo presto, pero non troppo adagio. Cosi-cosi- molto garbo ed espressione is the basis of Einstein’s contention that the work was intended as a parody, having as its butt, assumably, the Quatuors W@airs dialogues of Giovanni Giuseppe Cambini whose superficial, flashy methods of achieving success in the Parisian musical circles were nothing short of scorn- ful to Mozart. According to Georges de Saint-Foix, however, the work was com- posed in Vienna during 1786-7, not for a specified flutist. That the Paisiello theme used in the last movement was not in existence before 1786 is Saint-Foix’s factual basis. As to Mozart’s intentions toward a parody, they can only be verified with reference to the satirical indications quoted above, for the music itself does not incorporate any technical extravagance or stylistic deviation so necessary for a parody. Notes by ILHAN K. MIMAROGLU

© 1962 by Vox Productions, Inc., New York 19, N. Y. Printed in U.S.A.

This. is a Stereophonic Record! When played back with your appropriate two speakers, two amplifiers and 45 degree Siereophonic cartridge, it is capable of giving you the finest home sound reproduction. ever available. The Stereophonic equalization is R.I.A.A. Recommended Pick-up weight: 2 — 4 grams. Mastering: Dr. R. van Gelder.

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