The
Violin Concerto No. 3 in
G majorG major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F. .Its relative minor is E minor, and its parallel minor is G minor....
,
K. 216The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. It is abbreviated K or KV. For example, Mozart's Requiem in D minor was, according to Köchel's counting, the 626th piece Mozart composed....
, was composed by
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
in
Salzburg' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its...
in
1775- Events :* Premiere of Pierre Beaumarchais's play, The Barber of Seville, which will later provide material for more than one opera.*Wilhelm Hauser becomes organist at the monastery of Lavaldieu and the teacher of Étienne Méhul.- Classical music :...
. Mozart was only 19 at the time.
The piece is in three movements:
- I. Allegro
- II. Adagio
- III. Rondeau
Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
In the first movement, the solo violinist playing together with the first violins during the orchestral
tuttiTutti is an Italian word literally meaning all or together.As a musical term, it is used in various ways:1) It may refer to an orchestral passage in which every member of the orchestra is playing at once. For instance, in a concerto it indicates the parts for the whole orchestra as opposed to the...
s. The main theme is bright and proud, followed by a minor middle and then a return to the main theme.
The second movement is also in ABA form, and in the dominant key: D major.
The
Violin Concerto No. 3 in
G majorG major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F. .Its relative minor is E minor, and its parallel minor is G minor....
,
K. 216The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. It is abbreviated K or KV. For example, Mozart's Requiem in D minor was, according to Köchel's counting, the 626th piece Mozart composed....
, was composed by
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
in
Salzburg' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its...
in
1775- Events :* Premiere of Pierre Beaumarchais's play, The Barber of Seville, which will later provide material for more than one opera.*Wilhelm Hauser becomes organist at the monastery of Lavaldieu and the teacher of Étienne Méhul.- Classical music :...
. Mozart was only 19 at the time.
Movements
The piece is in three movements:
- I. Allegro
- II. Adagio
- III. Rondeau
Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
I. Allegro
In the first movement, the solo violinist playing together with the first violins during the orchestral
tuttiTutti is an Italian word literally meaning all or together.As a musical term, it is used in various ways:1) It may refer to an orchestral passage in which every member of the orchestra is playing at once. For instance, in a concerto it indicates the parts for the whole orchestra as opposed to the...
s. The main theme is bright and proud, followed by a minor middle and then a return to the main theme.
II. Adagio
The second movement is also in ABA form, and in the dominant key: D major. The orchestra begins by playing the well known and beautiful main theme, which the violin imitates one octave higher. The winds then play a dance-like
motifIn music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition...
in A major, which the violin concludes by its own. After a conclusion in A, the violin plays the main theme again, remaining in the same key. When it should have sounded A natural, it sounds A sharp, and the melody switches to B minor, in a fairly tragic passage. It soon modulates back to A major, and to the home key of D major through the main theme. After the cadenza, and in a quite unusual thing for Mozart to do, the violin plays the main theme again , thus concluding the movement in D.
III. Rondeau
The third movement is a Rondeau Allegro, and opens with an orchestra theme which gave the concerto its nickname: "Strassburg". After a lonely, short passage by the oboes only, the solo violin enters with a different melody which modulates to D. A brilliant and high passage in D is soon followed by a descending arpeggio-like melodic line which eventually leads to the G string and repeats itself. After the second time, the violin plays the lonely oboe line from the introduction. A chromatic scale then leads to the "Strassburg" theme with the violin playing. The orchestra imitates the violin and abruptly changes to B minor and a B minor violin theme: the exact same theme as in the first violin solo, played in the relative minor key. As the theme itself repeats, it once again abruptly changes to E minor. The small E minor cadenza introduces the orchestra, which once again plays the "Strassburg" theme in G Major. After a couple of bars in D Major by the orchestra, the music goes from Allegro to an Andante in G minor, almost in the fashion of a Scherzo-Trio form. The strings play saltato quavers while the violin plays a note-rest small melodic line which repeats itself and eventually leads to a G Major Allegretto. The violin plays a crotchet-only playful theme, while the orchestra plays brilliant and fast threesome up-and-down notes, in a way that the solo violin's part acts as a background only. The parts switch and now the orchestra plays the playful theme, while the violin gets to show off by playing fast notes. The quick passages stops for the violin to play a more ceremonial theme played in the D and A strings, in the fashion of a Musette. This pattern sounds two more times until the violin concludes the fast theme with a low G, and switches to Tempo 1. After a few bars, the first solo theme that the violin played is played as a variation in A minor. The violin plays the "Strassburg" theme in G minor, and the orchestra imitates it in the usual form of G major. After the typical first solo variation, this time in the tonic key. the violin plays another small cadenza which leads to the last "Strassburg" theme played in two octaves. The orchestra plays it one third time in the lower octave. Instead of ending the concerto in a pompous way, Mozart chose to end it instead with the lonely oboe theme in G major played piano, adding the feeling of a musical "disappearing".