JAVS Fall 2008

soloist, orchestral players with col leagues, and both with a conductor or soloist/director) are the defining factors that create a varied range of colors, phrasing, dynamics, and articulation. A listener thus takes in not only an interpretation of the work, but a hint as to how the different partners in that work have come together. It is this dynamic human connection, interplays and power-plays, compe tition and conversation, that truly embody the spirit of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in both its construction and its performance. 1 Barry S. Brook, “The Symphonie Concertante: Its Musical and Sociological Bases,” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 6, no. 1 (June 1975): 20. 2 Ibid., 24. This view is echoed in Adena Portowitz, “Art and Taste in Mozart's Sonata-Rondo Finales: 3 Christoph-Hellmut Mahling, introduction to Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major for Violin, Viola and Orchestra , by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, trans. Gabriele Thalmann (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1975): VII-VIII. 4 Ronald Woodley, “Mozart and the Sinfonia Concertante,” program notes to Sinfonie Concertanti, K . Notes Two Case Studies,” Journal of Musicology 18, no. 1 (Winter 2001): 144.

showing an acceleration of dialogue in measures 113-35 from eight-bar sections to one-bar repartee, 37 a technique still popular today in vir tuosic jazz riffs. David and Igor Oistrakh’s two recordings with the Moscow Philharmonic and the National Radio Orchestra of France are indicative of this concerto approach. Interestingly, articulation rather than dynamics is a differenti ating element. In Casals’s recording the soloists were more legato and the orchestra far more punctuated; here the opposite is true. Both orchestras for the two Oistrakh recordings are far more legato with articulation, while the Oistrakhs have moments of extremely power ful staccatos and accents that bring out the soloists from the orchestral texture. Conclusions with influences from Paris and Mannheim. Its brief lifespan, and the various philosophies of the meaning of “sinfonia concertante,” lead to power-plays between the various musical forces of soloists, orchestra, and conductors, and even composer versus patron. In a practical sense, ensembles are unlikely to select any one perspec tive to solely base their playing. Instead, a compromise is likely, with a performance not fitting neat ly into any one category. In any approach, however, the elements of contrast and cohesion (soloist with In Mozart’s day, the sinfonia con certante was a fascinating new genre

extra brightness and greater projec tion…. In this work it gives the solo viola a unique sound and bril liance of its own.” He further men tions: “When discussing this, Nobuko Imai said that it gave her instrument ‘another dimension,’ and the added tension allowed her to achieve notes ‘with so much less force, and yet with greater securi ty.’” 33 Brook’s extensive study of the genre also raises interesting generaliza tions: a sinfonia concertante is rarely ever in a minor key, the num ber and variety of solo instruments is greater than that of the concerto grosso, and that “although it may sometimes include a poignant andante, its mood is usually relaxed, gracious and happy. Rarely is it very dramatic, never somber or intense.” 34 Adélaïde de Place described the C minor second movement as “one of Mozart’s most sorrowful movements” and that it “exudes an almost desperate sad ness: the three notes of the principal theme are breathed up by the orchestra like a stifled lament, taken by the soloists, then developed and varied in a dialogue full of pathos.” 35 In this respect, Mozart’s work contrasts with the trend of the genre, in a manner more consistent with a concerto than a sinfonia concertante. Another significant point is Mozart’s rescoring of the first movement cadenza. In the 10th measure of the cadenza the violin part was moved up an octave, 36 thus making the sec tion more virtuosic. Concertizing elements are also seen in the third movement, with Portowitz’s analysis

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