Divertimenti, K. 136-138
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
At the end of 1771, following two successful tours in Italy, Mozart and his father returned home to Salzburg. There, around the time of his sixteenth birthday, Wolfgang composed three divertimenti, K. 136-138, for strings.
These pieces are often counted as his first string quartets, but it has been remarked that the writing is unlike that in his other quartets, including even the ones that he wrote later that same year. Here the writing is more orchestral and the inner voices have less individual character than in most of Mozart's chamber music. He may well have considered this music useful for either orchestral or chamber music performance, and indeed it is often played by string orchestras. Mozart scholar Alfred Einstein speculated that Mozart may even have composed these divertimenti to be ready should he be asked for symphonies during his next Italian tour, in which case he could simply have added wind parts.
These are delightfully simple, youthful pieces, with exuberant energy, lyrical slow movements, and even some Haydnesque humor.
Boston Baroque Performances
Divertimento in D Major for strings, K. 136
December 31, 2014 & January 1, 2015
Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
January 1, 1991
Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
February 9, 1988
St. Anselm’s College, Manchester, NH
Martin Pearlman, conductor
February 17, 1978
Paine Hall, Cambridge, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Divertimento in F Major for strings, K. 138
October 26 & 28, 2018
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
May 3 & 4, 2002
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
April 24, 1998
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
March 23, 1990
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
February 4, 1984
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor