Masters of Melody: Mozart, Copland, & Haydn
What to listen for
Concerto for Two Horns in E-flat major: balanced phrases, virtuoso passages for the two horns in the first and third movements, and hunting calls in the third movement
Clarinet Concerto: the soloist’s extended cadenza (unaccompanied solo section) links the serene, beguiling first movement to the “Rather Fast” second movement. Listen for jazz elements – syncopations and offbeat accents in particular – along with widely spaced intervals like the kind of writing Copland used in Appalachian Spring.
Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504 “Prague”: note the compact three-movement format, instead of the usual four movements typical of a late Classical symphony. The opening Adagio gives way to a buoyant up-tempo Allegro. Mozart focuses on dynamic, even breathless forward motion, especially in the first movement Allegro and the closing Presto; we hardly notice the absent minuet.
Listening Guide
Notice how Rosetti’s music fits perfectly into the sound palette of Classical style created by Mozart and Haydn; it’s understandable that his Concerto for Two Horns in E-flat could be mistaken for music of Haydn’s.
The contrast between the first and second movements of Copland’s clarinet concerto, both in mood and style, are a deep dive into the clarinet’s expressive range and its exciting – and, in classical music up to that point, underutilized – potential for eyepopping virtuosity of a kind Goodman had made popular as “The King of Swing” in jazz.
Listen for the energy Mozart infuses into the “Prague’s” compact three movements; the fast outer movements can hardly contain their headlong tempos.
Other works by these composers
Rosetti: If you like how Rosetti wrote for horn, check out any of his 12 horn concertos (some solo horn, some for two horns) or his four double horn symphonies concertantes.
Copland: He didn’t write many concertos – just two, in fact – but if you like the clarinet concerto you might also enjoy Copland’s 1925 orchestral suite, Music for the Theatre. You can also hear the evolution of Copland’s approach to jazz in the 1926 Piano Concerto, which is markedly different than the Clarinet Concerto.
Mozart: for a similar mood, check out the “Haffner” Symphony No. 35.
Antonio Rosetti (Franz Anton Rösler or Rössler): Concerto for Two Horns and Orchestra in E-flat major (previously attributed to Joseph Haydn)
Composer: born c. 1750, Leitmeritz (now Litoměřice); Bohemia; died June 30, 1792, Ludwigslust, Mecklenberg-Vorpommern (now a state in northeastern Germany)
Work composed: between 1782-89; most probably written for two accomplished hornists, Franz Zwierzina and Joseph Nagel, while all three men were employed at the court of Kraft Ernst, Prince (Fürst) von Oettingen-Wallerstein.
World premiere: undocumented
Instrumentation: 2 solo horns, 2 oboes, 2 horns, and string orchestra
Estimated duration: 16 minutes
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
— Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II
Was Juliet right? After all, names can carry inherent value. Case in point: would we be more likely to attend a concert featuring a concerto by Joseph Haydn, one of the composing giants of 18th century Europe, or a concerto by an unknown Bohemian double bassist and composer, Franz Anton Rösler, who Italianized his name to Antonio Rosetti to take advantage of increasing interest in Italian music? You decide.
Another question: the most current research regarding the authorship of this concerto makes several compelling historical and musical arguments in favor of Rosetti, so how did Haydn’s name get attached to it in the first place? There are several possibilities. Until the mid-19th century, copyright laws were largely nonexistent, and unscrupulous music publishers often deliberately and erroneously attributed music by lesser-known authors to popular composers to boost their sales. In the case of Rosetti’s concerto, the question of authorship is more likely the result of honest confusion. Rosetti adopted the Italian version of his name no later than 1773, but he was composing before then. As Rosetti’s biographer Sterling Murray observes, “The existence during this period of several musicians who shared one or the other of the composer’s [German/Czech] surnames has led to considerable confusion in the identification of his music.”
Some unpublished manuscript scores of Rosetti’s Concerto for Two Horns in E-flat reveal an added notation, likely from a 19th century music librarian or archivist, attributing the work to Haydn. A different published version lists Haydn’s younger brother Michael as the composer. Given Haydn’s fame and Rosetti’s relative obscurity, it is easy to see how this concerto became linked to Joseph Haydn, but it is past time Rosetti receives the credit he deserves. He wrote a significant number of works for horn, including least at seven double-horn concertos, and his affinity for the instrument’s sound and capabilities are reflected in this polished work.
The concerto’s three-movement format features two up-tempo outer movements bracketing a slower, more lyrical central section, which Rosetti titled “Romanza.” The solo writing for the horns requires consummate technical skill to execute well, particularly for the valveless horns of the late 18th century. The two horns play in close duet throughout; the lively closing Rondo: Allegro showcases the horn’s origins as both a hunting instrument and a herald of nobility or royalty.
Aaron Copland: Clarinet Concerto
Composer: born November 14, 1900, Brooklyn, NY; died December 2, 1990, North Tarrytown, NY
Work composed: 1947-48
World premiere: Goodman first performed the Clarinet Concerto on the radio, with Fritz Reiner conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra, on November 6, 1950. The first concert performance took place three weeks later, on November 28, 1950, with clarinetist Ralph McLane and conductor Eugene Ormandy leading the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Instrumentation: solo clarinet, piano, harp, and strings
Estimated duration: 18 minutes
In 1947, legendary jazz clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman asked Aaron Copland to write him a concerto for clarinet. Copland agreed, producing a two-movement work that would simultaneously showcase Goodman’s extraordinary improvisational skills and technical ability, but also fuse the rhythms and colors of jazz with the timbres of a classical orchestra. “I had long been an admirer of Benny Goodman,” said Copland, “and I thought that writing a concerto with him in mind would give me a fresh point of view.” In recalling the genesis of this concerto, Copland later said that Goodman “assumed that since I was writing a work for him, I’d know more or less what he’d like to play. The decision to use jazz materials was mine, inspired, of course, by Goodman’s playing. Although I didn’t mention this to him, I was certain that he would approve. But, contrary to certain commentators, the jazz elements in the Clarinet Concerto have nothing to do with the ‘hot jazz’ improvisation for which Benny Goodman and his sextet were noted.”
Copland finished the concerto in 1948 and sent it to Goodman, but Goodman, concerned about the difficulty in parts of the concerto – the widely spaced intervals, a hallmark of Copland’s sound, for example – asked Copland to simplify it, to which the composer agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
In his usual straightforward writing style, Copland provided a description of the Clarinet Concerto: “The first movement is simple in structure, based upon the usual A-B-A song form. The general character of this movement is lyric and expressive. The cadenza that follows provides the soloist with considerable opportunity to demonstrate his prowess, at the same time introducing fragments of the melodic material heard in the second movement. Some of this material represents an unconscious fusion of elements obviously related to North and South American popular music. The overall form of the final movement is that of a free rondo, with several side issues developed at some length. It ends with a fairly elaborate coda in C major.”
A year after its premiere, choreographer Jerome Robbins made a ballet titled The Pied Piper from the Clarinet Concerto, which was first performed by the New York City Ballet on December 4, 1951.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504, “Prague”
Composer: born January 27, 1756, Salzburg; died December 5, 1791, Vienna
Work composed: Mozart began work on the “Prague” Symphony in the late autumn of 1786 and finished it on December 6, 1786.
World premiere: Mozart led the Bohemian Estates Theatre Orchestra in the premiere on January 19, 1787, in Prague.
Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings
Estimated duration: 23 minutes
Public appetite for the next big thing is as capricious today as it was in Vienna in 1786, when a 30-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart realized the people of Vienna were no longer interested in his music. When Mozart first moved to Vienna, in 1781, he was hailed as a musical sensation, primarily for his extraordinary abilities as a pianist. From 181 to 1785, Mozart mounted a series of subscription concerts, for which he composed the majority of his piano concertos, and the public flocked to hear this young, phenomenally gifted musician.
But familiarity breeds contempt, or, in this case, indifference. Over time the Viennese wearied of Mozart; by 1786 he was passé. In the city of Prague, however, Mozart was venerated to the point of reverence. As biographer Maynard Solomon notes, when Mozart brought his opera Le nozze di Figaro to Prague in 1786, the opera “fueled an enthusiasm for Mozart that has passed into legend, with Prague seen as the good city that supported and understood him at a time when he had allegedly been neglected, even scorned, by Vienna.” Prague’s love affair with Mozart continues today.
Mozart returned the affection and admiration of the people of Prague with his Symphony No. 38 in D major, appropriately nicknamed “Prague.” This symphony is distinctive in several ways. Three-movement symphonies were more typical of late-Baroque/early Classical style c. 1750, so K. 504’s lack of a fourth movement may seem unusual to today’s listeners (in German-speaking countries, the “Prague” is also known as “the symphony without a minuet.”)
The symphony begins with a slow, somber introduction, an uncommon feature in Classical-era symphonic writing. Although only three movements, the “Prague” is one of Mozart’s most challenging symphonies to perform, due primarily to the expanded prominence of the winds, which, in addition to their usual work doubling the strings, also play several exposed solo passages.
Given Prague’s adoration of Mozart, it is not surprising that the “Prague” symphony was popular from its first performance on, and was thereafter often programmed in orchestra concerts. Biographer Franz Niemetschek, writing in 1796, ten years after the “Prague’s” premiere, observed: “The symphonies [sic] which [Mozart] composed for this occasion are real masterpieces of instrumental composition, which are played with great élan and fire, so that the very soul is carried to sublime heights. This applied particularly to the grand Symphony in D major, which is still always a favorite in Prague, although it has no doubt been heard a hundred times.”
© Elizabeth Schwartz. All rights reserved.