Mozart: Haffner-Serenade KV 250 & Marsch KV 249

Featuring

Daniel Dodds
Festival Strings Lucerne
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Vincenzo Righini

Did you know?

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Critical Reception

Mozart described his contemporary Vincenzo Righini as a 'monstrous thief' who offered his 'stolen goods' in such profusion that people could hardly digest them, despite acknowledging his pretty compositions.

Compositional Technique

The first minuet in the Haffner Serenade is a witty joke by Mozart, written in a minor mode version of a folk song, 'Im Märzen der Bauer', despite its lighthearted melody.

Instruments

Daniel Dodds, the director and concertmaster of Festival Strings Lucerne, plays the 'Seillière' violin, built by Antonio Stradivari around 1680, which is on permanent loan to the orchestra.

Composer Biography

Vincenzo Righini, a successful tenor, Kapellmeister, and composer, was born just a few days before Mozart in 1756 and received his training from Padre Martini in Bologna.

Composition History

Mozart's Salzburg serenades, like the Haffner Serenade, were typically performed outdoors and often combined with a march played from memory by the musicians as they approached and left the venue.

Compositional Technique

Mozart's Salzburg serenades are unique among composers of his time, often including symphony movements, two minuets and trios, and concerto movements for soloists in keys remote from the main work.

Composition History

The Haffner Serenade was commissioned by Sigmund Haffner the Younger, a wealthy patron and philanthropist, to celebrate the marriage of his older sister, Maria Elisabeth, in 1776.