Mozart W. A. Duets № 1 and № 2 for violin and viola. Score and part

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — the Austrian composer, was born 27.01.1756 in Salzburg. His father was the famous violinist and composer Leopold Mozart, the author of the well-known that time “profound school” of violin play.

The musical talent of the young Mozart manifested very early in his life. Parents were shocked, when 3-years old Mozart sang the whole melody of the piece, which he had just heard while his father was practicing clavichord with his student.

Mozart started playing violin since his early childhood. His first teacher was his father Leopold Mozart, who devotedly mentored Wolfgang first on clavichord and later on violin and organ. The concert debut of the young violinist took place when Mozart just turned 6 years.

Soon after the first performance Mozart composed his first violin sonatas. The exact time of the Duets creation is not known, but several stylistic features indicate 1779 as the most probable year of writing them. That year was the difficult time in Mozart’s life. He had stopped working for Archbishop of Salzburg and travelled around for the better place for his creative life. The triumphant performances at main royal courts of Munich, Manheim and Paris did not help Mozart to find the proper job and get the independence. After in 1779 his beloved mother passed away in Paris, Mozart forced himself to come back to hated Archbishop of Salzburg.

But all disasters of the Paris trip could not break Mozart’s life anymore. He became matured as a human being and as an artist. Mozart’s compositions of that period started being profound and scale

Mozart’s duets belong to the genre of music for entertainment, intended for different listeners. Duet № 1 for violin and viola is the most joyful and bright. Such music was performed at numerous festivals, most often held open-air.

Alexey Lyudevig