(See general note on “Mozart Canons” in post KV 555)
This is one of two canons with a religious text.
In this case I had to fill up the left hand with some extra notes since the main trick described in KV 555 wasn’t enough to procure a decent bass line in the first part.
Starting with the three canons KV 555, 554, 553 I eventually transcribed all the complete Canons by Mozart. I had already done the KV 89 before but I still hadn’t considered at the time to do all the others as well.
In case you don’t know, the basic principle in a Canon is to work with only a melody line / theme and repeat it across multiple voices, shifted in time. In this piece for example there are four voices. The theme is started by the first voice, followed by the second voice 4 bars later, then the third voice which starts 4 more bars later, and finally the fourth voice even 4 more bars later. Now starting where all voices are at work, begins a “repeat”: in fact what follows could be repeated endlessly as there is no definite “ending” in the original.
The number of voices varies from piece to piece: in Mozart the minimum is 2 voices, with a maximum of 12(!) voices.
All voices play the exact same theme, at the same pitch, and at a certain point you don’t know anymore who’s playing what: the same melody works both as main line and accompaniment of itself.
To transcribe that for the piano I couldn’t simply splatter all voices together at the same pitch as in the original: that wouldn’t be pianistic at all, it would sound incomplete and sketchy – possibly even spooky. So I tried this: I transposed the second and fourth voice one octave below, assigning them to the left hand, while the first and third stayed at their original pitch, for the right. I never changed the moment when the voices start. With this simple trick, I achieved a more pianistic distribution of the notes between the hands. It’s not the only solution possibile: the same trick can be used in various ways. In fact I applied it more or less in all the other canons, in various flavors.
Another task I had to do for every canon was to choose a cut-off point and compose an ending, since there isn’t any ending in the original. I also chose freely across the various canons how much times to play the repeat part and also if / how to variate the repeats.
I didn’t transcribe the Canons that are known for sure today to be “not by Mozart”, although they are present in the Kochel catalog.
Mozart used various languages and text sources for his Canons, sometimes writing the text himself. The content ranges from serious, even religious, to comical and raunchy. In this case the text is in Italian and it says “Lacrimoso son io / perduto ho l’idol mio”, which roughly translates to “I’m full of tears, I’ve lost my beloved”. This is poetic / operatic / courtly Italian, no one today would use “lacrimoso” to mean “sad” nor “idolo” to refer to one’s beloved. I bet you thought “idol” referred to a singing and dancing schoolgirl, didn’t you? 🙂
This is my top favorite of the set, hands down – and of course that’s why it’s the first I transcribed. It is also the happiest one, the sunniest one, without any major clouds… which may be the reason why some critics deem it “inferior” or “a step back” from the others, although I don’t understand them. (Yeah I know the “Sun” in the title is just an ex post derived from a picture on the original cover or something)
I mean, check out the finale: it is a wonderful fugue, so beautiful and so serene. And if it wasn’t enough, in the last page Haydn treats us with a cherry on top: a “rovescio” variation of the themes. It takes more than skill to write such stuff and make it sound so good: it takes a true Master. My all time favorite fugue!
Trivia
The Menuetto was the first piece I completely transcribed on the piano instead than on the computer – actually I still only had a keyboard at the time; a true digital piano would have entered the scene a few weeks later.
There isn’t much “sunny” mood here, except the tender Adagio and a few brief spots in the first movement. If you are looking for truly “sunny” quartets try the Op.33 No.5 or the Op.54 No.1.
Among the Fugue movements in the Opus 20 (three out of six quartets in this set end with a fugue) this is perhaps the easiest one (!).
The first quartet in this Opus was the last one I transcribed, thus completing my first full set of string quartets. Note there was a long hiatus (read: laziness) period between completion of the first and the other movements.
The first movement of this Quartet never fails to remind me, starting from bar 18, of Mozart’s String Quintet in the same tonality (the No.3 KV 515).
The YouTube videos are the first version of all movements: I revised/improved the second (Adagio) and third (Menuetto) movements one year later; on IMSLP you can find the revised versions. The second movement was mostly transcribed at the piano (except VAR.II) and then ported on the computer. Someday I’ll upload the revised versions on YouTube as well.
If you’re easily moved, be sure to have your handkerchief ready for the second movement.
This one is hardly known as the other “titled” ones in the same opus, but I liked it so I did it.
The second movement was partially transcribed at the piano, while the third movement was the first to be completed because the easiest and shortest, to quickly provide a placeholder for the project – most shameful reason.
My favorite movement is no doubt the last one, though. It starts in G minor with a putting off, jarring theme, but after that great rewards await the trusting listener.
For those interested, my recommended/reference recording for all the Opus 76 quartets is the performance by Quatuor Mosaiques.
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