Violin Concerto No. 5 (Mozart)

The Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major (K. 219) was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1775, premiering during the holiday season that year in Salzburg. It follows the typical fast-slow-fast musical structure.

Background

Mozart composed the majority of his concertos for string instruments from 1773 to 1779, but it´s not known up to the present time, for whom, nor for which occasion he wrote them.cite book |title=Konzert in A für Violine und Orchester Nr. 5 KV 219. Klavierauszug (Piano Reduction) |last=Mozart |first=W. A. |authorlink= |coauthors=Mahling, Christoph-Hellmut (preface) |year=2003 |publisher=Bärenreiter Verlag |location=Kassel |isbn= |pages=p. VI-VII |url= ISMN M-006-45361-0] Similarly the dating of these works is unclear. Analysis of the handwriting, papers and watermarks proved, that the dates of all five violin concertos were manipulated, they were re-dated several times. The year of composition of the fifth concerto "1775" was scratched out and replaced by "1780", and later changed again to "1775".cite book |title=Konzert in A für Violine und Orchester Nr. 5 KV 219. Klavierauszug (Piano Reduction) |last=Mozart |first=W. A. |authorlink= |coauthors=Mahling, Christoph-Hellmut (preface) |year=2003 |publisher=Bärenreiter Verlag |location=Kassel |isbn= |pages=p. VI-VII |url= ISMN M-006-45361-0]

The autograph score is preserved in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.cite book |title=Konzert in A für Violine und Orchester Nr. 5 KV 219. Klavierauszug (Piano Reduction) |last=Mozart |first=W. A. |authorlink= |coauthors=Mahling, Christoph-Hellmut (preface) |year=2003 |publisher=Bärenreiter Verlag |location=Kassel |isbn= |pages=p. VI-VII |url= ISMN M-006-45361-0]

Structure

The concerto is scored for 2 oboes, 2 horns and strings.

The movements are as follows:

# Allegro Aperto - Adagio - Allegro Aperto
# Adagio
# Rondo - Tempo di Minuetto

The "aperto" marking on the first movement is a rare marking, and appears in a few Mozart pieces, but in not many other places. It implies that the piece should be played in a broader, more majestic way than might be indicated simply by "allegro." The first movement opens with the orchestra playing the main theme, a typical Mozartian tune. The solo violin comes in with a short but sweet dolce "adagio" passage in A Major with a simple accompaniment in the orchestra. (This is the only instance in Mozart's concerto repertoire in which an "adagio" interlude of this sort occurs at the first soloist entry of the concerto.) It then transitions back to the main theme with the solo violin playing a different melody on top of the orchestra. The first movement is 10-11 minutes long.

The rondo finale's main theme is a typical Mozartean theme, but the contrasting sections feature loud passages of Turkish music that have caused some to call this the "Turkish Concerto".

Mozart later composed the Adagio for violin and orchestra K. 261 as a substitute slow movement for this concerto.

The whole piece is about 28 minutes long.

Media

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