180 Days With Mozart And Me

Imagine my surprise when the first song I listened to this morning was “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

And a whole lotta twinkling at that.

Because it wasn’t just the one version of the world-famous nursery rhyme. It was 12.

I didn’t know the tune had been around since Mozart’s time. So I let my fingers do the Googling.

And I found a Wikipedia article on “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star“, from which I excerpt the following:

“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is one of the most popular English nursery rhymes. The lyrics are from an early nineteenth-century English poem, “The Star” by Jane Taylor. The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a collection of poems by Taylor and her sister Ann. It is often sung to the tune of the French melody “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman” (oldest known publication 1761). The English lyrics have five stanzas, although only the first is widely known. Mozart wrote twelve variations on ‘Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman’.

From the Wikipedia entry for “Ah! Vous dirai-je Maman” (which, by the way, translates from French to English as “Ah! I shall say to you Mum”):

Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman”, K. 265/300e, is a piano composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composed when he was around 25 years old (1781 or 1782). This piece consists of twelve variations on the French folk song Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman. The French melody first appeared in 1761, and has been used for many children’s songs, such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep and the Alphabet Song.

As they were yesterday, all of today’s compositions are variations on themes written by other composers.

Here’s track-by-track information about today’s CD:

Track 1: Already covered above.

Track 2: Eight Variations in F, K.352 on “Dieu d’amour” by A.E. Grétry. The phrase “Dieu d’amour” translates from French to English as “God of love.” Information about A.E. Grétry can be found, as most things are, on Wikipedia, from which I provide the following:

André Ernest Modeste Grétry (February 8, 1741 – September 24, 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous for his opéras comiques.

Altogether he composed some fifty operas. His masterpieces are Zémire et Azor and Richard Coeur-de-lion – the first produced in 1771, the second in 1784. The latter in an indirect way became connected with a great historic event. In it occurs the celebrated romance, O Richard, O mon Roi, l’univers t’abandonne, which was sung at the banquet—”fatal as that of Thyestes,” remarks Carlyle—given by the bodyguard to the officers of the Versailles garrison on October 3, 1789. La Marseillaise not long afterwards became the reply of the people to the expression of loyalty borrowed from Grétry’s opera. Richard Cœur de Lion was translated and adapted for the English stage by John Burgoyne.

Grétry was the first to write for the “tuba curva”, an instrument that existed from Roman times as the cornu. He used the tuba curva in music that he composed for the funeral of Voltaire.

Grétry died at the Hermitage in Montmorency, formerly the house of Rousseau. Fifteen years after his death Grétry’s heart was transferred to his birthplace, permission having been obtained after a protracted lawsuit. In 1842 a large bronze statue of the composer was set up at Liège.

Track 3: 12 Variations in E flat, K.353 on “La belle Françoise.” The phrase “La belle Françoise” translates from French to English as “Nice Françoise.” From Answers.com comes this explanation of the origin of these variations:

A companion work to the popular set of Variations for piano (12) in C major on “Ah, vous dirai-je maman” K. 265 (K. 300e), the E flat Variations are also based on a French tune. The origin of the theme is unknown, but it has been suggested that the popular, rustic nature of the tune indicates an air from one of the “village operas” which became popular in France in the wake of Rousseau’s Le Devin du Village (1752), the source of Mozart’s own Bastien and Bastienne, K. 50. As with K. 265, the present work has traditionally been assigned to the summer of 1778, the disastrous period spent in the Paris during which Mozart’s mother died. More recent research now dates both sets to Mozart’s early months in Vienna. Here again the naive innocence of the theme is treated to a series of often virtuoso variants (Variation 7, for instance) before Mozart brings back the original theme to die away pianissimo in a short coda. ~ Brian Robins, All Music Guide.

Track 4: 12 Variations in E flat, K.354 on “Je suis Lindor” by A.L. Baudron. The phrase “Je suis Lindor” translates from French to English as “I am Lindor.” There’s not much information available on A.L. Baudron, other than this short (“stub”) Wikipedia bio:

Antoine-Laurent Baudron, born 1742, Amiens, died 1834, Paris, was a French musician and composer. He was the head violinist in the orchestra of the Comédie Française, and wrote the original music for The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais. He also wrote the first known French violin quartets.

Track 5: Six Variations in F, K.398 on “Salve tu, Domine” by D. Paisiello. I’m not sure what the Latin phrase “Salve tu, Domine” means. Possibly a greeting or a well-wishing. “Salve tu” often means “Hail!” or “Welcome!” The word “Domine” could mean “Lord” or “clergyman.” Here’s information from Wikipedia on D. Paisiello:

Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello) (May 9, 1740 – June 5, 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era. Paisiello was primarily an opera composer. His instrumental works are therefore imbued with a similar vocally conceived melodic line, granted they may be lacking in the sophisticated counterpoint and motivic work of Haydn and Mozart’s music. This characterization, however, does not do justice to the extreme drama and topical contrast in all his works such as the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor. Essentially he had mastered all the techniques which made for good opera, and this made his works widely popular and admired throughout Europe.

The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music notes that “Paisiello was one of the most successful and influential opera composers of his time. Most of his over 80 operas are comic and use a simple, direct and spirited style, latterly with sharper characterization, more colorful scoring and warmer melodies (features that influenced Mozart). His serious operas have less than the conventional amount of virtuoso vocal writing; those for Russia are the closest to Gluck’s ‘reform’ approach.”

Here is what I listened to today, complete with the best guesses of scholars regarding where and when each piano sonata was composed. This information was pieced together from The Compactothèque book + CD, which is an essential purchase if you want the fullest enjoyment from the Philips Complete Mozart Edition. It’s only about $8 and the sampler CD, alone, is remarkably enjoyable. But the booklet is gold, Jerry! Gold! Keep in mind, some of these places and dates are merely guesses. But I find it fascinating to see even guesses for some of these compositions. They help me put Mozart’s life and creative output in perspective.

For example, Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756. With that in mind, take a look at where and when these pieces were composed. I’ll add Mozart’s approximate age in the parenthetical data below each listed sonata:

1. 12 Variations in C, K.265 on “Ah, vous dirai-je Maman”
- Vienna, 1781-2 (Mozart was 25 or 26)

2. Eight Variations in F, K.352 on “Dieu d’amour” by A.E. Grétry
- Vienna, June, 1781 (Mozart was 25)

3. 12 Variations in E flat, K.353 on “La belle Françoise”
- Vienna, 1781-2 (Mozart was 25 or 26)

4. 12 Variations in E flat, K.354 on “Je suis Lindor” by A.L. Baudron
- Paris, 1778 (Mozart was 22)

5. Six Variations in F, K.398 on “Salve tu, Domine” by D. Paisiello
- Vienna, March 1782 (Mozart was 26)

This is one instance in which knowing the composition beforehand didn’t bring me any joy. “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” doesn’t do much for me.

Frankly, none of these variations and themes did much for me. They all sounded the same (except for the aforementioned ditty “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”). Ingrid Haebler probably had to reach deep inside of herself to find inspiration to play these pieces, especially that first one.

I’m not a big fan of nursery rhymes.

So it’s a good thing Panera Bread serves such scrumptious food. I’d have considered my three hours spent with Mozart this morning to be a total loss.