The Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

, K. 364 (320d), was written by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. At the time of its composition in 1779, Mozart was on a tour of Europe that included

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and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He had been experimenting with the sinfonia concertante genre and this work can be considered his most successful realization in this cross-over genre between symphony and

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

Instrumentation

The piece is scored in three movements for solo

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, solo viola, two

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

s, two French horns, and strings, the last including a divided viola section, which accounts for the work's rich harmony. The solo viola part is written in

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

instead of E major, and the instrument tuned a semitone sharper ( scordatura technique), to give a more brilliant tone. This technique is less common when performed on the modern viola and is used mostly in performance on original instruments. However, modern violists that choose to play scordatura, the way Mozart originally composed it, will more easily project over the orchestra.

Movements

Recordings

Richard Wigmore in '' Gramophone'' (October 2015) writes that there are over 40 CD recordings in all. He rates as best to date one by Iona Brown, violinist and conductor, and Lars Anders Tomter, viola, with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Chandos CHAN9695. Also on his short list is a 1989 recording, with Iona Brown, and with Nobuko Imai, viola. Mention should also be made of the 1951 Casals Perpignan Festival recording with

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

and William Primrose, Casals conducting.

Legacy

This Sinfonia Concertante has influenced many arrangers to use its themes. In 1808 an uncredited arrangement of the piece for a string sextet was published by under the title ''Grande Sestetto Concertante''. All six parts are divided equally among the six players; it is not presented as soloists with accompaniment. It has also been arranged for

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

in place of the viola part. The ''Sinfonia Concertante'' was mentioned in William Styron's 1979 novel '' Sophie's Choice;'' after a stranger molests Sophie on the subway, she hears the ''Sinfonia Concertante'' on the radio, which brings back memories of her childhood in

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and snaps her out of her depression. Variations on the slow second movement were used for the soundtrack to the 1988 Peter Greenaway film '' Drowning by Numbers'' by composer Michael Nyman. The original piece is also heard after each of the drownings in the screenplay.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Compositions for viola and orchestra

1779 compositions Compositions in E-flat major