Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Complete Divertimenti and Serenades for Winds
rec. 2001/23, Hervormde Kerk Rhoon, The Netherlands; Auditorium Bernareggio, Italy
Brilliant Classics 97391 [7 CDs: 362]

Mozart enjoyed writing for wind instruments and Viennese aristocrats liked having wind music at their parties, particularly outdoors, where string instruments do not carry well.  So these Divertimenti and Serenades were written as entertainment music at a time when the gap between that, at least for Viennese aristocrats, and serious music was much less than it is now. There is no clear distinction between Divertimenti and Serenades: they both usually have more than four movements and are characterised by a more relaxed manner than symphonies and other serious music. Being by Mozart, they are always charming and elegant but the best of them go a good deal beyond that.

For Mozart, wind ensembles were of various sizes, but generally included some of oboes, clarinets and bassoons, and also horns, which count as honorary wind instruments, but not flutes. Mozart did not much care for the flute, though he made amends in The Magic Flute. He quite often writes for the basset horn, which is an alto clarinet with an extended lower range. (The soprano clarinet with an extended lower range, now known as the basset clarinet, came later into his life and is used in the Clarinet Concerto and Quintet but not in these works.) He usually writes for instruments in pairs – the wind quintet, popular in later years, was not a medium he favoured.

I shall discuss this collection in approximate chronological order of composition, which is not the order in which they are presented. I start with CD4, and the Divertimenti K166, 186 and K. Anh. 226 and 227, written when Mozart was a teenager. The first two of these are scored for pairs of oboes, cors anglais, clarinets – the first time Mozart had used these instruments – bassoons and horns. Mozart’s inexperience with wind ensembles at this stage is shown by the fact that the second bassoon doubles the first and there is a great deal of unison or octave doubling. In each case the Adagio is the best number. The other two here, K Anh 226 and 227 date from a year or so later and are similar in spirit. I have to say that their authenticity is debated.

Next, I shall take CDs 1 and 2 which contain the six Divertimenti K. 439b. These were published originally for two basset horns and bassoon, then for clarinets and bassoon, which is how they are played here. The first four of these are straightforward, except that the finale of the second one is not by Mozart but by Anton Stadler. The fifth seems to have been made up from unconnected separate pieces, while the sixth consists of arrangements of arias from Figaro and Don Giovanni. These are all pleasant enough but of no great moment.

CD6 is miscellaneous. It begins with two sublime works the Adagios K 411 and K 580a (the latter now usually K 410), for clarinets and basset horns. These are gems. We then have a group of Notturni, K 346, 436-9 and 549. These are little songs with the accompaniment of two clarinets and basset horn. It is possible that the vocal lines were written by Gottfried von Jacquin. They are pretty trifles. The 12 Duos for two horns K 487 are chiefly remarkable for the extreme care Mozart took to write virtuoso music playable on the natural horn of those times, which had no valves and therefore could not produce certain notes. Also on this disc is the Divertimento K 188 for the absurd combination of a flute, five trumpets and timpani. Here it is performed without the flute. Mozart manages to make this ensemble sound almost reasonable. Its companion, K 187, for a similar combination but with a second flute, consists of arrangements of arias from Gluck and elsewhere and is not included.

The pick of the collection comes on the remaining three discs. CD 5 has the five Divertimenti Mozart wrote during his longest period at Salzburg, K 213, 240, 252, 253 and 270. (A sixth work, K 289, is generally now considered spurious and is not included.) They are all for wind sextet: two oboes, two horns and two bassoons and are sheer delight.

Mozart’s supreme achievement in wind music comes in the three serenades, on CDs 3 and 7. The earliest of these, K 361, sometimes known as the Gran Partita, is also often referred to as the serenade for thirteen wind instruments, though in fact there are twelve of these, pairs of oboes, clarinets, basset horns, and bassoons with four horns, while the thirteenth instrument is a double bass, not a contrabassoon. This is a glorious work, in seven movements at the peak of the serenade style. The other two are each for wind octet: pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons and get progressively more serious. K 375 is in five movements and one can tell that this is a more serious work, from the Trio of the first Minuet and the Adagio. Finally, K 388 is in four movements, in C minor and is dark indeed: it belongs with such works as the G minor symphony K 550, the D minor string quartet K 421 and the statue scenes in Don Giovanni. The whole work is sombre, with only one ray of light at the end. With this work Mozart has finally transcended entertainment music; it is not surprising that he later transcribed it for string quintet, K 406, in which medium it seems a good deal less harsh.

The first six of these discs are played by a team of performers whose names are given but we are told nothing about them. They play well, and the better the music the better they play: their performances of the serenades K 375 and 388 are really superb. These recordings were all made in 2001 and are reissues. They were warmly received by MWI at the time (review). That set included a different performance of K 361. This set has a new one played by I Solisti Della Scala and was recorded in 2024. They also play well, but there is occasional blurring of the melody line and slight stiffness in their rhythm which suggests that either another rehearsal or a conductor might have helped. The recording quality of all the discs is fine, despite the differences in venue and date.

The booklet, in English only, shows signs of haste: not all the works are discussed, one paragraph is repeated verbatim and the writer does not appear to know that the basset horn and the basset clarinet are different instruments. There are no biographies of the performers and no texts or translations of the Notturni. The discs are presented in attractive cardboard sleeves in a handsome box.

There have been several other collections of Mozart’s wind music, with variable coverage, going back to the Netherlands Wind Ensemble in the 1970s (review). That one and the London Wind Soloists led by Jack Brymer (Decca) are classics; a Salzburg set from 2018 (DG) is more recent. There are various other recordings of the most important works here, the Salzburg divertimenti and the three serenades. However, if you want all Mozart’s wind music, this will do very well.

Stephen Barber

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Contents
CDs 1 and 2
Divertimenti K 439B
CD3
Serenades K 375 and 388
CD4
Divertimenti K 166, 186, K ANH 226 and 227
CD5
Divertimenti K 213, 240, 252, 253 and 270
CD6
Adagios K411 and 580a (410)
Notturni KI 3465, 436-9, 519
Duos K 487
Divertimento K 188
CD7
Serenade K 361 Gran Partita