Divertimento in D major, K.136

The Divertimento in D major is one of a set of three written in Salzburg in 1772 when the composer was no more than sixteen. That is all we know about them. It is not certain for example whether they were intended to be played by a solo string quartet, as most present day scholars believe, or string orchestra. It certainly looks from the manuscript as though Mozart had solo strings in mind. On the other hand, they are not scored like string quartet and they have always proved most effective when played by a small string orchestra.

The first movement of the Divertimento in D is particularly brilliant - for the first and second violins, that is, if not for the other instruments - its carefree extroversion cleverly offset by mysterious little passages in the minor just before the recapitulation. There is a similar contrast between the somewhat formal aspect of the opening of the Andante in G major and more personal expression of the second theme. The energetic little Presto contains in its middle section the one contrapuntal passage in the whole work, giving the lower strings more than a menial responsibility at last.