Duo in B flat, K.424, for violin and viola

Tema con variazioni

On a visit to Salzburg in 1783 Mozart found his old friend Michael Haydn – younger brother of the more famous Joseph and Court Composer to Archbishop Colloredo – in an unfortunate predicament. He had been commissioned to provide six duos for violin and viola but, after writing four of them, he had fallen ill and, unable to complete the set, was in danger of losing his fee. Mozart, who was aware from personal experience that the Archbishop was not the most considerate of employers, volunteered to write the two remaining duos and to allow his friend to pass them off as own work. There is nothing in the least perfunctory about them however. Indeed, the one in B flat K.424 begins with a full-scale slow introduction, deliberately challenging the rest of the work to live up to its structural and expressive implications.

In that the viola rarely gets to carry the melodic line, neither of these works is anywhere near as scrupulous as the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola in sustaining an equal relationship between the two instruments. The second subject of the first movement of the present work passes briefly to the viola but in the Andante cantabile the violin has the siciliano melody and the virtuoso writing largely to itself. It is only in the first of the six variations in the last movement that the viola actually has the violin accompanying it. Even so the textures are so much better integrated and so much more interesting than those in the Michael Haydn Duos that, surely, someone in Salzburg must have noticed the difference.

Tema con variazioni

The story goes that on his visit to Salzburg in 1783 Mozart found his old friend Michael Haydn – younger brother of the more famous Joseph and Court Composer to Archbishop Colloredo – in an unfortunate predicament. He had been commissioned to provide six duos for violin and viola but, after writing four of them, he had fallen ill and, unable to complete the set, was in danger of losing his fee. The story goes on that Mozart, who was aware from personal experience that the Archbishop was not the most considerate of employers, volunteered to write the two remaining duos and to allow his friend to pass them off as own work. Unlike most anecdotes of its kind, according to all the available evidence this one appears to be true.

Less surprisingly, there is nothing in the least perfunctory about the two Duos. Mozart might have set out with the idea of disposing of them in a couple of hours but he clearly became intrigued with the problems associated with writing three-movement works for such limited instrumental resources and he spared nothing of his technique and imagination in solving them. The Duo in B flat K.424 begins with a full-scale slow introduction, deliberately challenging the rest of the work to live up to its structural and expressive implications.

In that the viola rarely gets to carry the melodic line, neither of these works is anywhere near as scrupulous as the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola in sustaining an equal relationship between the two instruments. The second subject of the first movement of K.424 passes briefly to the viola but in the Andante cantabile the violin has the siciliano melody and the virtuoso writing largely to itself. It is only in the first of the six variations in the last movement that the viola actually has the violin accompanying it. Even so the textures are so much better integrated and so much more interesting than those in the Michael Haydn Duos that, surely, someone in Salzburg must have noticed the difference.

Tema con variazioni

Visiting his father in Salzburg in 1783 – or so the story goes – Mozart found his old friend Michael Haydn (younger brother of the more famous Joseph and Court Composer to Archbishop Colloredo) in an unfortunate predicament: he had been commissioned to provide six duos for violin and viola but, after writing four of them, he had fallen ill and, unable to complete the set, was in danger of losing his fee. The story goes on that Mozart, who was aware from personal experience that the Archbishop was not the most considerate of employers, volunteered to write the two remaining duos and to allow his friend to pass them off as own work. Unlike most anecdotes of its kind, according to all the available evidence this one appears to be true.

    Another surprise is that there is nothing in the least perfunctory about the two Duos. Mozart might have set out with the idea of disposing of them in a couple of hours but he clearly became intrigued with the problems associated with writing three-movement works for such limited instrumental resources and he spared nothing of his technique and imagination in solving them. The Duo in B flat, K.424, begins with a full-scale slow introduction, deliberately challenging the rest of the work to live up to its structural and expressive implications.

    In that the viola rarely gets to carry the melodic line, neither of these works is anywhere near as scrupulous as the Sinfonia Concertante in sustaining an equal relationship between the two instruments. The second subject of the first movement of K.424 passes briefly to the viola but in the Andante cantabile the violin has the siciliano melody and the virtuoso writing largely to itself, and it is only in the first of the six variations in the last movement that the viola actually has the violin accompanying it. Even so, by means of ingeniously wrought contrapuntal exchanges and double-stopped harmonies, the textures are better integrated and far more interesting than those in the four Duos of the genial but uninspired Michael Haydn.

Gerald Larner©