Adagio in E major, K.261

Although we know where and when Mozart wrote his Adagio in E major - in Salzburg in 1776 - we do not know exactly why he wrote it. There is a plausible theory that, since it was originally scored for violin and orchestra and dates from much the same time as his Violin Concerto in A major, it was intended as a replacement or alternative slow movement for that work. It has every right to be heard for its own sake, however. Scarcely less effective with piano rather than orchestral accompaniment, it is a for the most part serenely lyrical invention with the violin poised almost throughout on a supremely elegant melodic line. Both main themes are introduced by the piano but it is the soloist who leads the way in the middle section into an unexpectedly passionate episode in B minor. Serenity is restored but, as the violinist’s recapitulation of the first theme on the G-string rather than the E-string seems to suggest, not without a memory of the deeper experience of the central episode.

Rondo in D major, K.373

As well as the five violin concertos there are three other works by Mozart for violin and orchestra: the Adagio in E, K.261, which was written in Salzburg in 1776 and might have been intended as a replacement middle movement for the Violin Concerto No.5 in A, K.219; a Rondo in B flat, K.269, which was also written in Salzburg, possibly as a replacement finale for the Violin Concerto No.1 in B flat, K.207; and a Rondo in C, K.373, which was written in Vienna in April 1781 and was performed in the same month at the Vienna residence of Prince Colloredo by the Salzburg violinist Antonio Brunetti (for whom all of these works might originally have been written).

The Adagio in E is a for the most part serenely lyrical invention with the violin poised almost throughout on a supremely elegant melodic line. Both main themes are introduced by the orchestra - the first on a pair of flutes in the opening bars, the gavotte-like second subject on violins - but in the middle section it is the soloist who leads the way into an unexpectedly passionate episode in B minor. Serenity is restored but, as the violinist’s recapitulation of the first theme on the G-string rather than the E-string seems to suggest, not without a memory of the deeper experience of the central episode.

The Rondo in C might seem unadventurous in comparison with some of the rondos in the concertos in that it makes no tempo changes and springs no big surprises. In fact, however, the harmonic developments in the episodes between the reappearances of the cheerful main theme offer glimpses of emotional implications which are probably all the more poignant for not being thoroughly explored.