Divertimento (String Trio) in E flat major K.563 (1788)

Mozart achieved incredibly much in 1877, not least his last three symphonies. In September of the same year, six weeks after he had completed the “Jupiter,” he set to work on a comparatively unambitious project - a Divertimento for violin, viola and cello - and created yet another masterpiece, a string trio without precedent and as yet without equal. It comprises the six movements of the conventional divertimento but, contrary to the implications of the title, there is nothing superficial or perfunctory about it. Far from it: in a work written for his friend Michael Puchberg, who was very generous with his money, Mozart was not inclined to economise on his creativity.

The first movement begins simply enough with a descending E flat major arpeggio - but there is something more than usually promising in its scoring for the three instruments whispering the theme in bare octaves. Sure enough, in the development section that theme passes through a fascinating variety of remotely related tonalities against double-stopped harmonies in syncopated rhythms on viola and busy chromatic figuration on violin or cello.

The Adagio begins in much the same way - this time with a rising arpeggio in A flat major. Later in the movement this same theme takes inspired flight on the violin, which instrument is the projected into expressive melodic leaps covering two octaves or more. The first of the two minuets is unconventionally serious, in that its trio represents a development of the main theme rather than the usual cheerful contrast. The Andante is even more surprising, since it present itself as a decorative series of variations on a folk-like theme in B flat major and yet, by the middle of the movement, Mozart is exercising his intellect in sustained three-part counterpoint in B flat minor. He then reverts to old scholastic practice in presenting a variant as a cantus firms on viola against a complex background texture on the other two instruments.

If this variation reminds you of a similar archaism in the chorale for the Two Armed Men in Die Zauberflöte (which was written three years later) you might also be reminded of the music for the Three Boys in the fifth movement - a particularly charming and elaborately constructed minuet with two trio and a coda. Both here and in the finale, with its carefree E flat major melody floating over elegant arpeggios on the viola and with its aggressive percussive motif in witty contrast, Mozart achieved the most elusive ideal of entertaining without trivialising.

Michael Puchberg, wealthy industrialist and fellow freemason, lent Mozart at least as much as 1,500 florins between 1787 and 1791 and went on helping the family after the composer’s death. Although little of the money he advanced to Mozart was repaid, and although he himself died in poverty, he did achieve the singular honour of the dedication of the string-trio Divertimento in E flat - which was not only the first major work of its kind but also one which was to remain without equal at least until Schoenberg wrote his visionary String Trio 158 years later.

Obviously, Puchberg cannot have known how history would remember him but he was probably musician enough to appreciate the rare quality of a score which might well have been written at his request or to suit the requirements of an ensemble in which he and Mozart were involved. That can only be a matter for conjecture, of course. The same applies to the question why Mozart chose to present a project like this, which as serious and as ambitious as any of the string quartets, as a Divertimento not only in name but also in the traditional entertainment-music form with two minuets and two slow movements - making it, incidentally, the longest of all this chamber works.

From the very beginning it is clear that this is no ordinary divertimento. Harmonically, the opening bars, basically a descending E flat major arpeggio, are simple enough but there is something more than usually promising in the scoring for violin, viola and cello whispering the theme in bare octaves. Sure enough - after a brilliantly written exposition that repeatedly throws each of the three instruments into virtuoso high relief - the simple opening theme passes through a fascinating variety of remotely related tonalities against double-stopped harmonies in syncopated rhythms on viola and busy chromatic figuration on violin or cello. The contrapuntal episode in the middle of the development section is masterfully accomplished.

The Adagio begins in much the same way as the first movement - this time with a rising arpeggio in A flat major on the cello. The same theme is reintroduced as a second subject climbing high on the violin just before that instrument is dramatically projected into a series of wide melodic leaps against a background of throbbing minor harmonies on viola and cello. Although peace is restored before the end of the exposition, unease persists throughout the short development - which makes the recall of the main theme in the security of A flat major on a now elaborately eloquent cello all the more reassuring.

Of the two minuets, the first is unconventionally serious, in that its trio represents a development of the main theme rather than the usual cheerful contrast. The Andante is even more surprising, since it present itself as a decorative series of variations on a folk-like theme in B flat major and yet, by the middle of the movement, Mozart is exercising his intellect in sustained three-part counterpoint in B flat minor. He then most effectively reverts to scholastic practice in presenting another variant as a cantus firms on viola against a complex background texture on the other two instruments.

Mozart was to present a similarly inspired archaism in the chorale for the Two Armed Men in Die Zauberflöte three years later. There is another anticipation of that opera, of the music for the Three Boys in this case, in the fifth movement - a particularly charming and elaborately constructed minuet with two trios and a coda. Both here and in the finale with its carefree E flat major melody floating over elegant arpeggios on the viola and with its aggressive percussive motif in witty contrast, Mozart achieved a classic sonata rondo and at the same time the elusive ideal of entertainment without trivialisation.

Gerald Larner ©2005