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The
Serenade in E flat major
was composed in the autumn of 1781 for
a sextet of two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons. In a letter to his
father dated 3 November 1781, Mozart reports that on 15 October he wrote
a “NachtMusick” (the term “night music” is synonymous with “serenade”) for
the sister-in-lawof the court painter Joseph von Hickel; it was first performed
in her house by an ensemble of poverty-stricken musicians, who“played very
prettily”: the composer singles out for mention the musicianship of the first
clarinettist and the two horn players. As this was a work calculated to show
off his artistry in a household belonging to theViennese nobility, he admits to
having written it with considerable care. Mozart indicates that the Serenade
was given several times in the course of the night, as was frequently the case
at the time. It was thus an occasional piece, intended to entertain both the
casual listener and the music-loving aristocratic “connoisseur”, on whose
appreciation Mozart was counting.
The composer mentions in passing in a letter of 27 July 1782 that he has“had to
compose very quickly a piece of nightmusic, but only forwind band” (“ichhabe
geschwind eine Nacht Musique machen müssen, aber nur auf harmonie”). It
was long believed that Mozart was referring here to the Serenade in C minor,
KV 388, but this work bears no trace of having been written in haste; on the
contrary, it gives every appearance of being a particularly carefully worked
out composition. It ismuchmore likely that the reference is to the composer’s
own transcription for octet of the sextet KV 375, which is recorded here.
It is thought that Mozart made this transcription quite quickly during the
summer of 1782, in response to the new fashion for wind octet music set by
the Emperor.
SERENADES KV375 & 388 51