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42-485: The composer indicated that the work was finished on 29 September 1789. It received its premiere on 22 December of the same year, in one of the four annual Vienna performances of the Tonkünstler-Societät , an organization that existed to fund pensions for widows and orphans of musicians. The main item on the program was a cantata, Il natale d'Apollo , by Vincenzo Righini ; Mozart's work was performed between

84-677: A duty for members of the nobility. The Society served as a model for comparable organizations, not just in the Austrian Empire but also in Berlin (1801) and St. Petersburg (1802). The performances of the Society were given on a schedule that remained fairly consistent across the years: two performances at Easter time, and two just before Christmas. In its earlier years, the organization was fairly adventurous, mounting performances of new or recent works. Around 1800, traditionalism set in, and

126-401: A few of its bars. As often with Mozart, phrase structure is generally the same throughout the variations even if other qualities change – the theme consists of four four-bar phrases (Mozart is often more irregular in his phrasing than this), the first going harmonically from A to E, the second back from E to A, etc. and likewise with the variations. The first of its variations gives the clarinet

168-531: A member until 1797; at this point his many contributions to the Society's charitable concerts over the years led the Society to make him an honorary member. Mozart attempted to become a member in 1785, around the time his Davidde Penitente was performed by the Society (see below). His application procedure stalled because of the requirement that Mozart produce his birth certificate (he had been born in faraway Salzburg , making it harder to do so). Mozart promised twice to provide it but never did. His dilatoriness

210-416: A new theme, in counterpoint with the theme of the variations divided amongst the quartet. The second alternates phrases for quartet only with phrases for full quintet, the latter answering the former. The third, in A minor, also begins without clarinet. It features a viola melody – also with signature acciaccatura – sometimes described as sobbing. The clarinet joins in to finish. The major mode returns for

252-460: A second (although possibly written first) clarinet quintet in B-flat major , of which a complete exposition survives. It is possible that Mozart completed the movement , as the score continues into the development section on the last surviving page. This fragment is unlikely to be a sketch , as it bears no marks of correction. (However, Mozart re-used many of the thematic ideas in the fragment, in

294-412: A sinfonia concertante. Ferruccio Busoni wrote an enormous piano concerto in C major , containing five movements, lasting over an hour and even finishing with a male choir, that can be considered a sinfonia concertante. In the 20th century, some composers such as George Enescu , Darius Milhaud , Frank Martin , Edmund Rubbra , Florent Schmitt , William Walton and Malcolm Williamson again used

336-408: A total of 92. The chorus had a combined total of 28 sopranos and altos (all boys), 13 tenors, and 13 basses; thus overall a total of 146 performers. Comparable numbers were employed in other years. In a letter written home to his father Leopold, Mozart expressed wonderment at the size of the orchestra and delight in how well his symphony had come off at the concert. These numbers were made possible by

378-560: Is a direct quotation of two bars in the second movement of the Quintet of the clarinet line in the Concerto's second movement. Alfred Einstein notes that while the clarinet "predominates as primus inter pares " (first amongst equals) this is nonetheless "chamber music work of the finest kind" and the roles are distributed more equally than they would be in a more concertante quintet for wind and strings. A score fragment exists for

420-408: Is for the strings alone, with a theme that has a signature acciaccatura every few notes. The second trio is a clarinet solo over the strings, whereas in the minuet the roles are distributed more evenly. The finale is in variation form , unexpectedly substituting for the more conventional rondo. There are five variations. The theme is in two repeated halves, with the clarinet joining in, but only for

462-599: Is partially immersed in the orchestral sound, but also has several distinct solo passages. The second half of this work also features a semi-soloistic part for piano four hands. By the end of the 19th century, several French composers had started using the sinfonia concertante technique in symphonic poems , for example, Saint-Saëns uses a violin in Danse macabre , and Franck a piano in Les Djinns . Richard Strauss 's Don Quixote (1897) uses several soloists to depict

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504-577: The National Socialist government of Germany abolished it; Germany had annexed Austria in the previous year (the Anschluss ). From the viewpoint of the history of music, the greatest significance of the Society falls in its early period, up to the early 1800s, when it played an important role in premiering or disseminating works of music still acclaimed to this day. For the later period, after public concerts elsewhere had come to flourish and

546-632: The Sinfonia Concertante (Symphony No. 4), for flute, harp and small string orchestra by Andrzej Panufnik written in 1973, and Peter Maxwell Davies 's Sinfonia Concertante for wind quintet , timpani and string orchestra of 1982. The Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů wrote two works in this genre: Sinfonia Concertante for Two Orchestras, H. 219 (1932) and Sinfonia Concertante No. 2 in B-flat major for Violin, Cello, Oboe, Bassoon and Orchestra with Piano, H. 322 (1949). In fact, all but one of

588-453: The Church, the primary employers of musicians at the time). In her decree (23 February 1771) authorizing the founding of the Society, the empress Maria Theresa also made an initial contribution to the Society's fund in the amount of 500 ducats (about 2000 florins). Later, the diarist Karl von Zinzendorf observed that attendance at the Society's charitable concerts was considered something of

630-463: The Classical sinfonia concertante is the concerto grosso ; among the most famous of these are those by Arcangelo Corelli and George Frideric Handel . During the Classical period (roughly 1750–1800), both the symphony and the concerto had acquired more definite meanings, and the concerto grosso had disappeared altogether. In the second half of the 18th century, this led to attempts to combine

672-406: The Society is frequently mentioned in biographies of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, only Haydn ever actually belonged to it, and that in exceptional circumstances. Haydn first composed a work for the Society to perform in 1773 ( Il ritorno di Tobia ; see below). In 1778, he signed up for membership and duly paid his enrollment fee, but was asked on top of this to write further compositions for free at

714-481: The Society's command. Haydn refused, and he then was rejected for membership. Relations between Haydn and the Society remained cold for some time. In 1781, they were unable to come to an agreement for a repeat performance of Il ritorno di Tobia , though for the Spring 1784 concerts they were able to arrive at an accommodation. Haydn's works continued thereafter to appear on Society programs. Haydn did not finally become

756-547: The Society's own programming had become conservative, the historical significance of the Society became less, and mentions of the organization in the work of music scholars are few. The Society was unusual in the sheer size of the orchestras and choruses that performed in their concerts. For the concerts of 1 and 3 April 1781, where Mozart made his first appearance with the Society (see below), there were 40 violins, 8 violas, 9 cellos, 11 contrabasses, 2 flutes, 7 oboes, 6 bassoons, 2 English horns, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, and 1 timpanist,

798-663: The ancestor of the double and triple concerti of the Romantic period corresponding approximately to the 19th century. In the Baroque period , the differences between a concerto and a sinfonia (also "symphony") were initially not all that clear. The word sinfonia would, for example, be used as the name for an overture to a stage work. Antonio Vivaldi wrote "concertos" which did not highlight individual soloists and which were stylistically more or less indistinguishable from his "sinfonias." The Baroque genre that comes closest to

840-513: The composer's symphonies feature a piano, as do most of his orchestral works, but the two afore-mentioned works were the only two in his output which he labelled concertante symphonies. Wilhelm Furtwängler completed in 1937 his Symphonic Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in B minor , which lasts over one hour and is one of the longest piano concertos ever written. Sergei Prokofiev called his work for cello and orchestra Symphony-Concerto , stressing its serious symphonic character, in contrast to

882-483: The composers of the large work just once each, and several times of the smaller works. Haydn died in 1809. The Creation and The Seasons continued over the decades as frequent choices for performance by the Society. Mozart died in 1791. Concertante Sinfonia concertante ( IPA: [siɱfoˈniːa kontʃerˈtante] ; also called symphonie concertante ) is an orchestral work, normally in several movements, in which one or more solo instruments contrast with

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924-449: The era are Kozeluch's Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major for mandolin, trumpet, double-bass, piano, Gossec's Symphonie Concertante for Violin and Cello in D major and Gresnick's Symphonie Concertante in B flat major for Clarinet and Bassoon. Few composers still called their compositions sinfonia concertante after the classical music era. However, some works such as Berlioz 's Harold en Italie , for viola and orchestra approach

966-404: The fact that participation in the Society's concerts was obligatory for all members (else they had to pay a small fee in compensation). In addition, some prospective Society members also performed. Edge suggests that one should not assume that such forces were used for all numbers on the program; concertos in particular may have just used a subset of the musicians for better balance. Although

1008-628: The final episode of the American television series M*A*S*H , Charles Winchester learns that five Chinese soldiers who surrendered to him are musicians, one of whom plays a theme from the Clarinet Quintet, and Winchester proceeds to teach them the entire piece. Notes Sources Tonk%C3%BCnstler-Societ%C3%A4t The Tonkünstler-Societät ("Society of Musicians") was a benevolent society for musicians in Vienna , which lasted from

1050-401: The first violin, alternating with brief phrases of clarinet melody. These scales are given to the clarinet in the recapitulation (bar 51). In the last few bars of the movement, more chromatic than the rest, the scales turn into triplet arpeggios traded between the strings under the closing clarinet phrases. The third movement consists of a minuet and, unusually, two trios. The first trio

1092-569: The following: Joseph Haydn also wrote a Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Cello, Oboe and Bassoon during his visit to London , as a friendly challenge to his former student Ignaz Pleyel . He also stayed in London at the time and his works in the genre were highly popular. Haydn also wrote symphonies with long soloist parts, especially early in his career, such as the "Time of Day" symphonies 6–8. These are, however, rightfully considered symphonies rather than sinfonie concertanti. Other examples from

1134-479: The fourth variation, as does the main theme to the accompaniment of semiquaver virtuosity – given to the clarinet only in the first repeated half, first violin and clarinet in the second. There are four bars of dramatic interruption leading to a pause; the next variation is a lyrical Adagio. A transition leads to an Allegro coda , containing much of a variation itself. There are a number of similarities between this quintet and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto . Both are in

1176-457: The full orchestra. It emerged as a musical form during the Classical period of Western music from the Baroque concerto grosso . Sinfonia concertante encompasses the symphony and the concerto genres, a concerto in that soloists are on prominent display, and a symphony in that the soloists are nonetheless discernibly a part of the total ensemble and not preeminent. Sinfonia concertante is

1218-458: The genre. Ludwig van Beethoven did not write anything designated as a sinfonia concertante , although some feel his Triple Concerto qualifies for inclusion in the genre. Felix Mendelssohn wrote two concertos for two pianos and orchestra: one in E major and one in A-flat major , which can both be seen as sinfonie concertanti. Saint-Saëns ' Symphony No. 3 features an organ that

1260-422: The key of A major and were written for the same soloist, Anton Stadler . Both pieces are written for the basset clarinet , which has an extended lower range. Also, the first theme of the first movement of each piece begins with a falling minor third . Both the second movements are in the same key ( D major ) and have similar characters and many similar phrases, although they have different tempo markings. There

1302-483: The last of his four concertos, is effectively a sinfonia concertante. Bruch explored the boundaries of the solistic and symphonic genres in the Scottish Fantasy (violin soloist), Kol Nidrei ( cello soloist), and Serenade (violin soloist). He also wrote a concerto for clarinet, viola and orchestra in E minor , and a concerto for two pianos and orchestra in A-flat minor , which are both equal to

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1344-503: The main characters, namely cello, viola, bass clarinet and tenor tuba. Lalo 's best known work, the Symphonie espagnole , is in fact a sinfonia concertante for violin and orchestra. A work in the same vein, but with the piano taking the "concertante" part is d'Indy 's Symphony on a French Mountain Air . Brahms 's concerto for violin, cello and orchestra in a minor, Op. 102 ,

1386-424: The mid-18th century to the mid-20th. Its purpose was "to support retired musicians and their families". Beginning in 1772, the Society mounted a series of benefit concerts, often with large forces of performers, at which were performed works by leading Classical-period composers, including Joseph Haydn , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , and Ludwig van Beethoven . The Society was founded by Florian Gassmann in 1771. It

1428-430: The name sinfonia concertante for their compositions. Martin's work , more reminiscent of the classical works with multiple soloists, features a piano, a harpsichord, and a harp. Karol Szymanowski also composed a sinfonia concertante (for solo piano and orchestra), also known as his Symphony No. 4 "Symphonie-Concertante." Other examples include Joseph Jongen 's 1926 Symphonie Concertante , Op. 81, with an organ soloist,

1470-555: The programs now emphasized music that had come to be revered, including many performances (initially led by the composer) of Haydn's two great oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons . Indeed, in 1862 the organization renamed itself after Haydn: ("Haydn", Witwen- und Waisen-Versorgungs-Verein der Tonkünstler in Wien = "Haydn: Musician's society for the care of widows and orphans in Vienna"). The Society endured until 1939 when on 9 March

1512-592: The same order, in the first movement of his String Quartet K. 589 .) Nevertheless, the quintet K. 581 in A major is Mozart's sole surviving complete work for clarinet quintet. The fragment in A, Anhang 88, for basset clarinet in A and string quartet may originally have been intended as the fourth movement of KV 581. The sparsely notated fragment of 111 bars shares the opening theme of Ferrando's aria, no. 24, from Così fan tutte . Several musicians have made completions including Otto Bach (1870), Robert Levin (2012), and Craig Hill (2022). In " Goodbye, Farewell and Amen ",

1554-442: The second half there is a virtuoso run that is passed throughout the strings, based on material from the second section of the exposition. The second movement opens with a six-bar transition in place of a central development section , which opposes a first section consisting mostly of a clarinet melody over muted strings against a second group of themes in which – as in the first movement – several upward runs of scales are given to

1596-750: The two genres, such as those by composers of the Mannheim school . Johann Christian Bach (the so-called "London Bach" and youngest son of Johann Sebastian ) was publishing symphonies concertantes in Paris from the early 1770s on, as was Joseph Bologne , the 'famous Chevalier de Saint-Georges'. Mozart , who likely heard the early Sinfonia concertantes of Bologne, was also acquainted with the Mannheim school from 1777 and probably aware of J.C. Bach's publications. He put considerable effort into attempts to produce convincing sinfonie concertanti . His most successful are

1638-409: The two halves of this work. The solo clarinet part was taken by Stadler, the first violin part by Joseph Zistler (1744–1794). The work consists of the following four movements and, with the intended repetitions, has a duration of between 31 and 38 minutes, usually approximately 35 minutes. The first movement sets the mood for the entire piece. It has beautiful moving lines in all of the parts and in

1680-459: Was Haydn) with a free pass to all of its concerts. Most often, a concert of the Society would program a large work (typically an oratorio ), supplementing it with smaller works, often for solo or small ensembles. The smaller works usually were chosen to be different on the two nights a concert was given. Haydn was represented multiple times as composer of the large work and sometimes of the smaller works; in their lifetimes Mozart and Beethoven were

1722-518: Was also known as the "Gesellschaft der Wiener Tonkünstler zum Unterhalte ihrer Witwen und Waisen"; i.e. "Society of Viennese Musicians for the Support of their Widows and Orphans." Until 1811 (the year that the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde was founded), it was the only private organization offering concerts in Vienna. The Society was strongly supported by the aristocracy (who were, along with

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1764-419: Was unwise, since when he died in 1791 he left both many debts and a wife ( Constanze Mozart ) with two young children. Fortunately, Constanze proved an astute businesswoman and eventually managed to achieve prosperity from the publication of her husband's works. Although his works were performed by the Society, Beethoven was never enrolled as a member. He was, however, honored by the Society for his services (as

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