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The Gran Partita, lasting almost fifty minutes, is longer than any of the
composer’s other instrumental works – including the symphonies, which
were written at a time when such works never lasted more than half an hour
and were always in four movements.
The Gran Partita is in seven generous movements, both fast and slow,
containing enough material for two independent works. It is interesting
to note that the Gran Partita has often been published (in a reduced octet
form) in two separate parts, the first (Parthia I) comprising the opening
Molto allegro, the first Minuet, the Adagio and the Finale, and the second
(Parthia II) consisting of the Romance, the second Minuet, and the Theme
and Variations. The musicologist Bastian Blomhert has put forward the
idea that Parthia I was originally composed for eight instruments and later
expanded to thirteen, while Parthia II was written for thirteen instruments
and later reduced for octet. Furthermore, it is in the more ‘usual’ form of
Parthia I (shorter in duration and for fewer instruments) that the Gran Partita
has most often been presented, andwe have no proof that the work was ever
performed in its entirety on thirteen instruments in the eighteenth century.
Thereisthereforesomethingmonstrous,
andatthesametimesomethingUtopian
about the Gran Partita, which makes it
stand alone in the concert repertoire.
GRAN PARTITA KV361 59