Concert Analysis: Mozart In Dance

551 Words2 Pages

Marina Suh
Dr. Hontos
MUS 110

Mozart in Dance
I attended a concert on October 14th at the Granada, put on by Santa Barbara Symphony, the Symphony Chorus, and State Street Ballet. The performance was titled “Mozart in Dance”. They first performed Mozart’s symphony no. 41, Jupiter. Next, including vocals and dance, was Mozart’s final musical piece, Requiem K. 626. Both are from the classical era. Overall, this was a great concert that used originality to add to the already present grandeur of Mozart’s Requiem.
Jupiter was Mozart’s last symphony, written three years before his death in 1788, written last after two others over the course of six weeks. These three symphonies are thought to belong together, due to their very close times of creation as well as the fact that this …show more content…

Throughout this piece, totaling around thirty three minutes, there are a myriad of small but catchy melodies that are reiterated as the symphony goes on. The fact that there are so many of these motifs adds greatly to the complexity of Jupiter. They are artfully woven into the piece, enough so that they are memorable, but not so much that they are blatant and overwhelming, another defining factor of the classical era. Not only this, but Mozart layered these melodies through different instrumental mediums to add even more intricacy, otherwise known as stretto. Later, in Jupiter’s grand finale, all of the motifs can be heard combined into a new, yet familiar melody, a fugato. Also, the rhythm in Jupiter mainly consisted of 4/4 and 3/4, and had a thick, polyphonic texture, again reminiscent of the classical era. Additionally, the use of crescendos and diminuendos are prominent in this piece, as can be heard in the very first seconds of the fourth movement. Overall, Jupiter is very much in line with other works in the classical period, at the very least on a technical

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