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If the
Divertimenti
are far fromthe elaborate compositions
of Mozart’s maturity, and very different in spirit from
the
Gran Partita
, they are nevertheless refined in their
construction. In their general form and in their duration,
they differ little from the model of the contemporary
symphony:theyarepresentedassuitesinfourmovements,with a predominance of sonata form.
Thus, even if they were intended as entertainment for the Prince-Archbishop,
serenades or
Tafelmusik
, the
Divertimenti
may also be regarded as concert
pieces, combining as they do, in stylised form, every type of music that was
common at that time, fromdances to popular songs, fromsalon romances to
music for the hunt, from operatic overtures to sonata allegros. The result is a
ludic display of virtuosity and pyrotechnics.AndMozart is said to havewritten
themas hewrote his string quartets, as ameans of whiling away the time (‘
für
die lange Weile
’), i.e. for the sheer pleasure of composing music, without any
other form of necessity. Which leads us to believe that the composer would
not have composed these works any differently had he been completely free
to write as he wished. For here as elsewhere, it is impossible to distinguish
between what was composed freely and what was written out of necessity,
between art music and popular music, between the piece intended for
concert performance and the work intended simply for entertainment. And
this ambiguity is typical of these compositions, as it is of many other works
by Mozart.
SALZBURG DIVERTIMENTI 69