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The introduction of wind instruments into the palaces of the nobility, and
then at the imperial court, led to the birth of a new repertoire. Until that
time, wind music (Harmoniemusik) had been almost entirely limited to
military usage - the German word “Harmonie” itself is of military origin - and
to accompanying dancing in taverns.
The genre was now raised to the dignity of chamber music. Although its
function was still to entertain, it took on in addition the aspect of concert
music, so that it began to be listened to in its own right. Serenades, for
example, might be played in the open air, in town squares, in the street, or
in aristocratic palaces. However, the wind repertoire soon consisted almost
entirely of transcriptions of fashionable operas, for a wind ensemble was
an effective way of recreating theatre music at a time when opera was
establishing itself as the dominant musical genre. Mozart himself appears
to have taken on the task of transcribing his opera Die Entführung aus dem
Serail, which is contemporary with the foundation of the imperial Harmonie,
for wind octet.
An example of a concert of wind instruments is shown in the finale of Act II of
Don Giovanni
, in which a wind octet (accompanied by a cello) plays excerpts
from
UnaCosa rara
,
Fra i due Litiganti
and
LeNozze di Figaro
, threeoperas popular
at the time of the work’s premiere. Here, the pieces are played as Tafelmusik
to accompany the aristocratic libertine’s meal, but it would appear that in
contemporary usage concerts could also take place either before or after the
meal itself: the appearance of the wind band could constitute enough of an
event for the guests to devote their full attention to the concert that was
offered to them, especially when it was played by an ensemble of high quality
such as the imperial Harmonie. This gave the composer the opportunity to
writemusic that wasmore learned, more fullyworked out, more demanding,
like the two serenades that Mozart composed in 1782.
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