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