Secret Mozart

23 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 109 Mb


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Through the eighteenth century, the clavichord was a highly favored instrument for personal music making. Musicians loved it because they could play with dynamics (shades of soft to loud) and even voice chords (play each note in the chord with varying amounts of strength to "color" the chord). While the harpsichord was a louder instrument and more suitable for public performance, the strings were plucked and there was no way to play with different dynamics. The artist could change the effects to give the illusion of dynamics, but it was a psychological manipulation. With the clavichord, the force of pressure on the key directly levered the tangent into the string with that same force and that created the dynamic. Musicians treasured its subtlety and responsiveness to even the softest breath of a note.

A unique effect of the clavichord over the harpsichord and the piano is that the tangent is also the device that keeps the string above the dampening material and allows it to continue to sound. This means the artist is still in contact with the string so there is a possibility of altering the effects of the note by continuing to manipulate the key. The Germans called this bebung and the effect was treated as an ornament.

Christopher Hogwood has previously released recordings of music by Bach and Handel on the clavichord. Each of these is called "The Secret ..." because it represents private and personal music making in one's home. This wonderful disk presents music by Mozart, which is particularly nice because we associate his music so much with the piano (though his piano was vastly different than the usual iron framed, long ringing piano we play on today). As the notes for this disk tell us, Mozart's widow referred to their personal clavichord as the instrument Mozart played in composing "The Magic Flue" and other compositions late in life.

This disk presents 23 tracks using three different clavichords. All of the clavichords are unfretted. A fretted clavichord uses fewer strings than keys because the string only sounds from the one end to the tangent. So, if you have, say, a c and a c-sharp that are not going to be sounded together, you could use the same string for both notes by striking the string in the right spot to produce the different notes. However, these three clavichords have a string for each key and are therefore "unfretted".

The Hass harpsichord from 1761 has a second set of strings for the lowest octave and a half that add resonance that you will not hear in the other two clavichords. Some people, including CPE Bach, found the sudden transition of voicing undesirable, others find it adding richness and brilliance. You can hear this instrument on tracks 1-9, especially in the set of variations in G, K. 501.

We also get to hear the actual clavichord Mozart owned and the one mentioned by his widow as the one Mozart used in composing, on tracks 10-15 including the adagio for Glass Harmonica K. 356 and the Rondo in F, K. 494. It is a simple instrument with more historic value than beauty of sound.

The last instrument is the Schiedmayer and it has a clear and appealing sound. It is used on the remainder of the tracks (16-23). We hear two versions of the famous Fantasia in d-minor K 397; one with an improvised (well, at least improvisational sounding) ending, and the other the way we all learned it. The Sonata in D, K. 381 is also a gem and provides a wonderful fresh view of the work for those so familiar with how it sounds on our modern pianos or even a period fortepiano.

All of the numbers are well played by Christopher Hogwood except the K. 501 variations (tracks 2-7) and the K. 381 Sonata in D, which are played by Derek Adlam, whose performing is quite admirable.

A gem of a disk and a treasure for anyone who cares to hear Mozart in a way that would have not only been familiar to Mozart, but to all those alive when his music was new.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

contents:


01. Allegro in G minor, K. 312
02. Andante & 5 Variations in G, K. 501; Andante (Thema)
03. Andante & 5 Variations in G, K. 501; Var. 1
04. Andante & 5 Variations in G, K. 501; Var. 2
05. Andante & 5 Variations in G, K. 501; Var. 3
06. Andante & 5 Variations in G, K. 501; Var. 4 (minore)
07. Andante & 5 Variations in G, K. 501; Var. 5 (maggiore)
08. Minuetto in D, K. 355/Trio da M. Stadler; Minuetto
09. Minuetto in D, K. 355/Trio da M. Stadler; Trio & Minuetto reprise
10. Marche funebre, K. 453a
11. Andantino, K. 236
12. Klavierstu"ck in F, K. 33b
13. Adagio for Glass Harmonica, K. 356
14. La?t uns mit geschlungen Ha"nden K. 623
15. Rondo in F, K. 494
16. Theme & 2 Variations in A, K. 460; Theme
17. Theme & 2 Variations in A, K. 460; Var. 1
18. Theme & 2 Variations in A, K. 460; Var. 2
19. Fantasia in D minor, K. 397
20. Sonata in D, K. 381; I. Allegro
21. Sonata in D, K. 381; II. Andante
22. Sonata in D, K. 381; III. Allegro molto
23. Fantasia in D minor, K.397 (with coda)

Christopher Hogwood, clavichord