Sunday, May 22, 2011

Mozart: Divertimento in E-flat, K. 563 - IV. Andante

This movement features a set of theme and variations in b-flat major.

this is a bit hard to parse because there is no space in between the variations, so i will include lots of markers here.
theme is relaxed and pretty standard. two parts, both repeated. the first consists of a pretty standard eight bar, the first four bars half cadence and the final four cadence. already on the repeat, mozart starts varying, so it sounds a bit like a new variation, but the second part of the theme has yet to come. it takes us to harmonically new territory - c minor, f major, then cadence in b-flat, and then rounds it off neatly with a four bar "coda." again, the "repeat" of this second section is already quite different from the first time.

1:37 is the first variation, mostly for the violin. the viola receives the melody, while the violin plays a sort of descant. the repeat features some more difficult arpeggios for the violin, which are carried on in the second section.

3:06 is more boisterous, and gives a sort of conversation to the violin and viola, which alternately play parts of the melody and triplet arpeggios. the cello also gets to contribute his bit in the second half.

4:44 suddenly the jollity halts and we are given a much more solemn variation, in b-flat minor. wistful dotted rhythms and sustained notes are exchanged in equal part between all of the instruments.

6:16 back to the realm of the major, and the cello sustains long notes of the melody while the viola plays a sort of alberti bass and the violin has mad scales and perpetual motion all over the place. he does a bit of slicing and dicing, as the variation doesn't exactly adhere to the original theme, but that is because he is about to hit a coda. the other two instruments get their share of the perpetuo moto, but then all of a sudden we're back in the realm of the theme, which brings us to a relaxed close.

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