Introduction
The Violin Concerto No. 3 in G was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the city of Salzburg in 1775. He wrote it when he was 19 years old and called the “Salzburg-Concert” in the letter to his father (Stowell, 1985, 232). It is commonly accepted that Mozart imitated the in a symphony by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf when composing the Concerto due to its motive coming from the third movement’s central section, or so-called minuet-like dance (Stowell, 1985, 233). The instrumentation of the Violin Concerto No.3 consists of solo violin, two flutes which are in the second movement, two oboes also appeared in the second movement, two horns in G and D, and strings.
The Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 is in three movements that allows a performer to play. The three movements: “the first movement, Allegro, is in sonata form with a G major theme played by the accompanying orchestra. The second movement, Adagio, is in ternary form in the key of D major with another orchestral introduction. The third and final movement is a Rondeau Allegro (Stowell, 1985). Violin literature emphasizes primarily on the performance practice of the compositions. Stowell (1985) provides the history of violin performance and the role of Mozart who demonstrated development of various violin techniques. He proposes that virtuosic performance of “left-hand vibrato and right arm bowing” made the Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 special (. Similarly, Bitka (2021) suggest that the melody of No.3 Concerto is genuine even it is simple to perform. She also points out that Mozart obtained inspiration from Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741) who developed the concerto style during the Baroque period. This may explain the performance of solo that accompanied with orchestra, which plays crucial element of the concerto, as it enhances and supports the soloist.
Characteristics and Special Elements
With regards to other characteristics and special elements of the Mozart Violin concerto in G major, each movement should be performed in different speed or tempo, showing virtuosity and skills of the performer. At the end of each movement, there are complicated cadenzas or ending solos by the violinist. Adagio (second movement) has a slow tempo and quiet strings to emphasize the strength the solo violin performance (Lawson & Stowell, 1999, 122). Rondeau Allegro or the final movement is more dynamic and accompanied with simple orchestration featuring.
Other scholars, Todd and Williams (2006) write the information related to violin performance with regards to stylistic markings and period performance. Their work consists of various musicians’ and performers’ analysis of the works of Mozart, providing a comprehensive examination. Specifically, their book includes essays examining the virtuosity of Mozart performance: ornamentation (Paul Badura-Skoda and Frederick Neumann), improvisation (Katalin Komlos), cadenzas (Eduard Melkus and Christoph Wolff), tempo (Jean-Pierre Marty), the nature of Mozart’s string writing (Jaap Schr6der), and the influence of Leopold Mozart’s Violinschule (Robin Stowell). It also provides an insight that the antipathy of Mozart towards Muzio Clementi is dismissed as Mozart borrowed a theme from a Clementi sonata for Die Zauberfli (125). The work also looks for pan-European perspective to the compositions of Mozart. As such, the work by Todd and Williams is a great source in analyzing the Mozart Violin Concerto No.3.
Specifically, Dalmazzo (2019) illustrates that the right-hand bowing along with proper understanding of the tonal color are crucial to compose a high-quality sound. Bitka also highlight that bowing is important but left-hand vibrato should be mastered too. It is agreed by Bitka and Dalmazzo that the bow is used for drawing a wide range of colors driven from the emotional spectrum. For example, there can be dramatic and stark or any other tones. As such, the special attention should be paid for the bow-related studies and its effects. Moreover,
Moreover, when the performing skills of violin include three crucial aspects that are mechanical, physiological, and conceptual (Dalmazzo, 2019). With taking this into consideration, there are also three are main elements that affect the mechanics of sound production bow speed, bow pressure, and the distance from the bridge (Todd & Williams, 2006). It should be also pointed out that not only left hand vibrato and right hand bow are influencing the sound production but also the whole body. In the bow arm, the forearm and upper-arm muscles plays the most important and direct role in controlling the sound (Todd & Williams, 2006). In addition, there are other muscles that equally crucial, such as the right chest muscle and the back muscles. Todd and Williams help to demonstrate that for the improved performance skills, there is a need for controlling the body and specific parts of muscles. Yet, muscles is a part of the virtuosity as there is also a need to feel the music and the support of orchestra while performing the Mozart Violin Concerto No.3.
Stowell also describes the development of the bow, bow holds and strokes, so heling to understand how the performance is affected by the bow. Along with the history and development of bow, the work of Stowell contains the physics of the violin, the violinists during the period of the Baroque as well as Classical times. It also includes several highlights of 19th century. Stowell’s work helps to identify the origins of performance skills and their application in the music composition. Moreover, it can be seen how skills needed to perform the classical music were altered with regards to the time.
Conclusion
Revising exiting literature on performance and Mozart’s works is a critical aspect to explore performance skills needed to perform the concertos. The Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 is simple to perform but requires efficient left-hand vibrato and right hand bowing that are practiced to the expertise level. Some scholars focus on the history and development of violin performance, while other examine specific parts of the performance, arguing the effectiveness of each movement and technique. Moreover, the scholars provide various insights on how the Concerto was written, how Mozart imitated famous musicians and how his work contributed to the overall art of music. By proper examination, it is possible to discover new ideas and approach on the violin and orchestra performance.
References
Bitka, M. (2021). The young Mozart and the violin concerto” Arts. 18. Web.
Dalmazzo, D., & RamĂrez, R. (2019). Bowing gestures classification in violin performance: a machine learning approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 344.
Lawson, C., & Stowell, R. (1999). The historical performance of music: an introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Stowell, Robin. (1985). Violin Technique and Performance Practice in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries. Cambridge University Press.
Todd, L., & Williams, P. (2006). Perspectives on Mozart Performance. Cambridge university press.
Xing, Y., Xia, Y., Kendrick, K., Liu, X., Wang, M., Wu, D.,… & Yao, D. (2016). Mozart, Mozart rhythm and retrograde Mozart effects: Evidences from behaviours and neurobiology bases. Scientific Reports, 6(1), 1-11.