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Tag: Mozart

Mozart’s Sistine Chapel Secret The Miserere Story

You can thank Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for what we are about to receive.

It was on this date in 1770 – 250 years ago – that Mozart and his father attended a Holy Week service at the Vatican. There, they encountered for the first time Gregorio Allegri’s haunting “Miserere.”

Allegri composed his setting of Psalm 51 (50) in the 1630s. The piece was intended for exclusive performance in the Sistine Chapel, as part of the Tenebrae service of Holy Wednesday and Good Friday.

The work is conceived for two choirs, one intoning a simple chant, and the other, spatially separated, providing ornamentation. The effect of a stratospheric top C makes the “Miserere” one of the most enthralling works in the choral literature of the late Renaissance.

The Vatican, realizing it had a good thing, forbade performance of the piece or copies of the score to be circulated outside its walls, under threat of excommunication.

It was the 14 year-old Mozart who in effect liberated the piece, copying it down from memory and handing it off to author and music historian Charles Burney, who published it without delay.

Mozart was summoned before the Pope, and rather than being excommunicated, he was showered with praise for his feat of musical genius. The ban on the “Miserere” was lifted.

Portrait of Mozart, attributed to Giambettino Cignaroli, completed just before the composer’s 14th birthday

April 11, 2020
Mozart & Schubert at Marlboro This Week

It all goes back to Mozart, on this week’s “Music from Marlboro.”

As a boy, Franz Schubert so impressed his teacher, Antonio Salieri – Mozart’s friend and rival – that Salieri recommended him for a scholarship to the Imperial Seminary. There, he was introduced to the symphonies of Mozart and Haydn. By the time he attained leadership of the seminary’s orchestra, he had developed a clear affinity for Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor.

Mozart’s 40th was obviously in the back of Schubert’s mind when, in 1815, at the age of 18, he came to compose his own String Quartet in G minor, D. 173. The opening theme of Schubert’s first movement emulates that of the last movement of Mozart’s 40th.

You can hear for yourself, as we enjoy a performance from the 1981 Marlboro Music Festival, with violinists Yuzuko Horigome and Margaret Batjer, violist Philipp Naegele, and cellist Gary Hoffman.

First, Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448, was written in 1781, when the composer was 25 years-old. He first performed it in tandem with his pupil, Josepha Auernhammer.

Auernhammer was sweet on Mozart. Though the composer described her privately as “a monster,” he praised her playing, albeit with a few reservations. (His friend, the clarinetist Anton Stadler, was unqualified in his approval.) The duo performed publicly on several occasions, and Mozart dedicated six of his violin sonatas to her.

Parenthetically, the Sonata for Two Pianos was the piece that was selected in 1993 for use in a scientific study to test the so-called “Mozart effect,” which posited that listening to Mozart’s music could improve short-term mental acuity. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling smarter already.

Tune in for a performance given at Marlboro in 1975 by the husband and wife team of Claude Frank and Lilian Kallir.

The music is Frankly wonderful. Mozart and Schubert will improve your mood, if not your I.Q., on the next “Music from Marlboro,” this Wednesday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page

February 26, 2020
WWFM Thanks You Classical Music Supporters

It was a pretty tiring day yesterday. You know, after listening to all that Mozart. (Too many notes!) But it would be rude of me, now that my powdered wig is at the cleaners, not to at least take up my quill and scratch out a belated thank you note for your continued support of WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org. You are the strings in our fiddles. You are the buckles on our shoes. Your generous patronage lends extra lift to our mincing minuets. Sirs and Madams, we are your most obedient servants.

January 28, 2020
Mozart Anniversary Broadcast on WWFM

Mozart, take me away!

I’m getting ready to hit the air waves with more Mozart – an assortment of symphonies, concertos, operas, orchestral, choral, vocal, chamber and instrumental music – in honor of the 264th anniversary of his birth.

Along the way, we’ll hear selections performed by violinist Jaap Schröder and hornist Barry Tuckwell, both recently deceased, and a recording of Christopher Hogwood playing a clavichord that once actually belonged to the composer.

If you enjoy the programming, please support it, with your contribution at 1-888-232-1212 or online at wwfm.org.

As an added incentive, this time around we’re offering, among our thank you gifts, a 2-CD set, “Quiet Time: The Music of Mozart,” available for your donation of $60.

At 7:30 tonight, I’ll be manning the board for a special broadcast of Westminster Choir’s Homecoming Concert, coming your way live from Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium. David Osenberg will be your host for that. Then I’ll be back, following the concert, with more music until 10:00 EST.

Forget your cares with Wolfgang. Grab your shades and join the Wolf Pack, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org. Thank you for your support!

January 27, 2020
Mozart’s Humanity Celebrate His Birthday on WWFM

There’s a lot of art in Mozart. But also a lot of humanity.

Join us today on The Classical Network, as we celebrate the 264th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart – better known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Current events got you down? Take the long view. This music from over two centuries ago still has the ability to touch our hearts, soothe our minds, and reach into our souls. Mozart’s music reflects what is best in Man.

Tune in for a broad sampling of his extraordinary output, including symphonies, concertos, operas, orchestral, choral, vocal, chamber and instrumental music. If you enjoy it, please support it, with your contribution at wwfm.org.

While you’re at it, pick up a thank you gift. Of course, we’ve a broad array of music-oriented loot. This time around, we’re adding a 2-CD set of Mozart adagios. This is the perfect collection to insulate yourself from the cares of the world.

The saying goes that the best things in life are free, but it sure does cost money for us to bring you the music. We’ve been able to hang in there for 37 years, thanks to the generosity and perspicacity of listeners just like you.

Please call us at 1-888-232-1212, or make your donation online at wwfm.org. Thank you for your continued support of WWFM – The Classical Network!

FUN FACT: Mozart signed his name “Amadeus” only a few times in his life, when he was playing around in letters written in a kind of mock Latin. In fact, “Amadè,” “Amadé,” or simply “Amade” were his preference (“Amadeo” in Italy). He was fairly cavalier in the placement of the accent. It was only on his death certificate that the form “Amadeus” took root. His widow, Constanze, picked up on it and used it in her appeal to the Emperor for a pension (ultimately successful), citing Mozart’s contributions. As her late husband became increasingly venerated, “Amadeus” became the standard.

Of course, we can be as pedantic as we like. But nothing changes the transcendent quality of the music and its enduring ability to elevate our mood.

Find peace with Mozart on WWFM The Classical Network.

January 27, 2020

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