Mozart: Serenade No. 10 "Gran Partita"

Featuring

LSO Wind Ensemble
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Compositional Technique

The Serenade No. 10 is Mozart's longest wind-band piece, with a sprawling seven-movement structure that includes two minuets, a romance, and a set of variations.

Recording & Production

This recording of Mozart's Serenade No. 10 was made live in DSD 128fs on October 31, 2015, at LSO St Luke's, London.

Instruments

The basset-horn, a mellow, deep-voiced alto clarinet, was used by Mozart in this serenade and later in his Masonic Funeral Music and Requiem for sombre effects.

Compositional Technique

The Serenade No. 10 features an unusually rich ensemble for its time, with four horns, two oboes, two bassoons, two clarinets, two basset-horns, and a double bass.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Mozart had a deep affinity for wind instruments and their players, which began with his experience of the Mannheim court orchestra in 1777.

Composition History

Mozart's Serenade No. 10, 'Gran Partita', was first performed at a benefit concert for clarinettists Anton and Johann Stadler in Vienna's National Theatre.

Cultural Impact

The playwright Peter Shaffer chose the Adagio movement from this serenade for a pivotal scene in his play Amadeus, where it leads Salieri to realize Mozart's unique greatness.