Rendering №16 MUSIC

The article named "Ivan Hewett's Classic 50 No 23: Mozart: Grazioso from Piano Trio in E major" was published on 23, May in 2013 by Ivan Hewett.

The article

The latest in Ivan Hewett's 50-part series on short works by the world's greatest composers. To play the tracks embedded in this article you will need to register with Spotify at spotify.com

The journalist continues his research work in the sphere of classical music.

He stresses that there’s an inherent ambiguity in the word “classical.” It can mean classical music in general, and it can mean music of the classical era, which is the surprisingly short period between about 1770 and 1820 (pop music now has a longer history than “classical music”, using this definition). The confusion points to the fact that the music of that golden half-century is the centre of classical music as a whole. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven – these are the composers who completed the tonal universe that Bach and Handel and all the other great forebears had created. They added drama to spacious architectural grandeur.

This little piece by Mozart exemplifies that union, but so quietly you could miss the drama under the polished surface. He wrote it at a fantastically busy period of his life. Only four days after finishing it, in June 1788, he completed his 39th Symphony, and within another six weeks he’d completed 40 and 41 as well.

In between, he wrote three works for violin, cello and piano aimed at the amateur market, of which this is one. The publishers weren’t impressed with his aim, saying they were unapproachable and difficult.

But Mozart loved them, especially the E major one that contains this movement. He sent it as a thank you to his friend and fellow Freemason Michael Puchberg, whom he was always touching for a loan.

I agree that classical music is rather important for our modern teens and society on the whole. And the example of Mozart is not the sole. I'm sure that such great surnames as Mozart, Shestokovich, Bah, Verdi, etc should be within hearing.