Mozart's Stunning Tribute To Bach

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Mozart’s 'Kleine Gigue’ in G major was written in 1789, when Mozart was staying in Leipzig. On 16th May, the day before he left the city, he jotted down this short piece in the notebook of the court organist Carl Immanel Engel. It appears to have been written as a rather cheeky tribute to J.S. Bach who had been cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig earlier in the century. The gigue is written in fugal style with three voices presenting a remarkable cross-rhythmic subject, which also contains an angular sequence of intervals, presenting a ’note-row’ of ten chromatic notes. The musical material and its virtuosic working out are a striking (if not untypical) example of Mozart displaying his compositional prowess in the wittiest and most ingenious manner possible. It is one of the finest keyboard miniatures of the eighteenth century.

It is possible that the theme of Mozart’s ‘Kleine Gigue’ is a homage to the similarly angular fugue subject of Bach’s B minor fugue from ’The Well Tempered Clavier’ Book 1. The theme is also very similar to the concluding gigue of Handel’s F minor harpsichord suite.

Mozart: Kleine Gigue K 574

Pianist: Matthew King.

#Mozart #piano #themusicprofessor

Produced and directed by Ian Coulter & Matthew King

[mckernan]

1789, kinda funny to think of people living normal lives when all Hell was breaking loose in Paris

[journey]

I am a Japanese whose hobby is composing classical music. The teacher's commentary is always fun and I often see it. I didn't have a musical education, and I can't play any instrument, but I recklessly tried to enter a music high school. The reason is that I was able to compose music at that time. I learned piano in a hurry from my music teacher when I was in junior high school. After all, I couldn't play it, so I gave up, but the teacher often said, "When I grow up, I will like Mozart." I felt nostalgic about the feeling of this video. Sorry for the long sentence.

[OctopusContrapunctus]

It's fun to see how the fugue, even though being such a strict form, takes the characters of their composers, making fugues distinct and unique from each other

[Renshen]

Baron van Swieten was a Patron of CPE Bach, J Haydn, and Beethoven who dedicated his 1st Symphony, as well as W Mozart. He introduced Mozart to the Well Tempered Clavier, made The Art Of Fugue score available to Beethoven. The “There’s Someone I an learn From” quote was Mozart interrupting a Bach Motet performance by the Cantor of St Thomas Church in his honor, demanding the parts as the wasn’t a full score. Mozart’s performance on the church’s organ in concert elicited a comment from the Cantor, “J S Bach has been resurrected…”

[nucderpuck]

What an illuminating presentation. I often wonder what Mozart would have written, had he been given some more years to explore the path of the counter point...

[DaveD]

Perhaps one of the better kept secrets in the classical repertoire is the fact that this little 'Gigue' was orchestrated by Tchaikovsky for use as the opening movement of his final orchestral suite, the Suite No. 4, Op. 61, originally titled 'Mozartiana.' Tchaikovsky was an ardent admirer of Mozart, and composed 'Mozartiana' in 1887 as a tribute from one great master to another to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mozart's operatic masterpiece, Don Giovanni. Unlike his symphonies, Tchaikovsky's four Orchestral Suites have been almost criminally neglected for decades and but for a single exception, remain virtually unknown to the general public. The best-known and by far most frequently performed of Tchaikovsky's orchestral suites is the third - Suite No. 3 in G major, Op.55. This massive 45 minute work with its dramatic and memorable 'Theme and Variations' Finale is generally deemed worthy of inclusion alongside his other famous mature masterpieces. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Suites No 1 and 2, which is no doubt a contributing factor as to why they remain little-known and rarely performed outside of Russia. Mozartiana, however, is a charming and totally unique work of genius which deserves a far better fate and place in musical history. It is perhaps most widely known among balletomanes, providing the score for George Balanchine's last major ballet, aptly titled Mozartiana, which he re-choreographed and premiered in 1981 for the New York City Ballet, serving as a vehicle for the prima ballerina, Suzanne Farrell. There are several very fine recordings of Mozartiana available on YouTube as well as videos of the Balanchine ballet. If you are unfamiliar with this work or the Suite No. 3, (the Finale of which is also a famous Balanchine ballet titled 'Theme and Variations'), do yourself a huge favor and check these works out. You'll be glad you did.

[ricucci-hillmusic]

This was a joy to listen to! I love your passion for the music and it comes through vividly! :) Keep up the good work!

[kandelz]

What a stunning coincidence. I just listened and added Bach's Fugue no. 24 in B minor, and now this video comes up.

[coolcat]

Good grief, Mozart was an absolute beast. Imagine being Salieri and facing this effortless genius writing. Am I alone in thinking that this piece sounds very "jazzy"?

[kevinegan]

Excellent video! So many marvels in this gem that you had no time to mention that, with everything else, Mozart turned Bach’s name into a repeated motif here: B-A-C-H (H is the German name for B, B is the name for Bb)!

[none]

Hearing that Mozart openly acknowledged a debt to J.S. Bach is fascinating and rewarding in so many ways. I love them both and am pleased to know of Bach's influence on another great composer.

[davidgordon]

Yes, if I wasn’t told Mozart was the composer I would say absolutely a Bach piece, like an invention.

[zevyzions]

That was wonderful. I’d love to see more analyses of Mozart’s music. Thank you so much.

[melodymonger]

I shall seek out the sheet music forthwith and have a go at this lovely piece 🙂. Thank you from a Bach lover in Aus 👍

[johnchessant]

That B minor fugue from WTC is really awesome. Beethoven seems to have adapted it for his Grosse Fuge, and also some transition material from the B minor fugue appears as transition material in his String Quartet No. 14.

[mrkiplingreallywasanexceed]

I am frequently annoyed by YT which doesnt like my unfettered views....and admittedly they're often not very family' friendly. That said, if only they would take me as a whole, they would find I'm just a normal guy who has passions borh for and against different things, ... and anyway, that slight digression aside, if it was not for YT, we wouldn't have ever encountered the Music Prof - and he had far more to complain about than i do - he should be WAY more famous😆😎♥️

[wadejnelson]

have recently discovered this channel, and greatly admire the videos, especially those that include deep analysis, which I struggle to understand, but always appreciate

[blindcanseemusic]

Wow. Your analysis was amazing. Your presentation fantastic, I was riveted from start to end. Thank you. Mozart is amazing.

[RegCostello]

As a non musician (only an amateur drummer) this gives me a great insight into the genius of Mozart. I think I would like a bass drum beat on the downbeat of every bar to understand what's going on.

[hvrtguys]

I am a fan of the big three. Bach, Beethoven and Billy Mozart.