Mozart: Divertimento in E flat for string trio, K.563 (1788)
Allegro
Adagio
Menuetto:- Allegretto
Andante
Menuetto:- Allegretto
Allegro
How can it be that Mozart’s last three symphonies have taken such a grip on our collective imagination? Over the years it might well be the central one in G minor which has made the most impact – and H.C. Robbins Landon points out that minor keys figure more prominently from 1783 to 1788 than was otherwise the norm in his output, relating this to a condition described by the physician Dr. Peter J. Davies as “chronic mood disturbance….hypomanic depression…..cyclothymic disorder”. By the summer of 1788 all this must have been exacerbated by bereavement (notably his six month old daughter Theresia in June, and also his revered father Leopold the previous May); as well as recurring illness and chronic debt: no fewer than 21 letters to fellow freemason Michael Puchberg bear poignant witness to his desperation – but also to a certain self-regard….! And so we have the background to these three symphonies (Nos.39 – 41): his last, it is true – but not consciously so, of course, given that he was still an energetic young man of 32! Indeed, the “Jupiter” (not the composer’s title) turns out to be one of the grandest, boldest, and most complex of all his orchestral works – whose glorious conclusion of trumpet fanfares was immediately succeeded (after a dozen brief vocal pieces, mostly canons) by an even more large scale composition: this famous and unique divertimento, completed on September 27 and dedicated to the endlessly pestered Puchberg – and fittingly based in Mozart’s traditional Masonic key. The composer himself played the viola in its first public performance: in Dresden on 13 April 1789, barely five days after setting off on a tour of Germany with Prince Lichnowsky – during which it is unthinkable that the new symphonies were not featured, even if there is scant evidence one way or the other.
Divertimenti were traditionally orchestral works for strings (correctly, one player only per part), sometimes with wind, primarily intended for domestic entertainment. But, given that an “orchestra” of that period could consist of any number of players – “never less than four”, according to one eminent scholar, this final example of Mozart’s hardly justifies its nomenclature. At least it observes the expected proliferation of movements – and even its great length is not without precedent, given the scale of many of the earlier serenades. Despite fulfilling all the outward requirements it is nevertheless conceived in true chamber music style – even though the one masterpiece in this genre which most paved the way for it was surely the Gran Partita for 12 wind instruments and bass (K.361). It is also Mozart’s first and only work for string trio (the preceding G major fragment, K.562e, undoubtedly provided a bit of practice for the real thing), and exerted considerable influence thereafter: not only on Beethoven’s own E flat Trio (Op.3) – also in six movements – and the ensuing Serenade for string trio (Op.8); but also his Septet – and thereby, it follows, Schubert’s Octet! And it is no accident that both these huge pieces feature unashamedly virtuosic writing – and not just for the violin. If the famous old recording by Heifetz/Primrose/Feuermann understandably demonstrates this prominent aspect of K.563, it also (perhaps unknowingly) underlines the unbelievable wealth of invention and imagination invested in this “mere” divertimento – its creator no doubt taking full advantage of the sheer experience gained from those last three symphonies.
© Alan George
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