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In any case, it is obvious that Mozart’s approach to music for wind band was
not fundamentally different to his approach to the orchestral symphony or
the string quartet, although those genres were regarded as nobler. On the
contrary, he sought to give the wind ensemble its respectability by striving to
transcend the constraints that were inherent in the genre, andwhichwere the
only reason for its being consideredminor.
Although they already formed an integral part of the orchestra, it must not be
forgotten thatwind instrumentswere still regardedat that time as newcomers
of common stock. Theywere instruments of pomp and ceremony, intended for
hunting andmilitary uses, for open-air entertainment and activities associated
with the outdoors, in short, theywere notmeant for delicate ears. But fromthe
early 1870s onwards, the instruments of the
Harmonie
were invited to play in
gardens, then in the salons, like the violins, flutes, cellos and harpsichords, and
they even began to vie with the string instruments in the concerted art music
at which the latter excelled. But in order to do that their origins and infirmities
had to be concealed.
Mozart took up that challenge, presenting these wind instruments as if
they were string instruments, or, even better, opera singers, with the same
freedom and delicacy, the same dynamics, the same registers, the same
nuances, the same possibilities of modulation, the same expressiveness!
In order to create an impression of total ease that of course meant
cheating, at the risk of making the musicians suffer. And only a composer
who was used to tackling all forms of music, to showing all instruments
to their advantage, a composer of operas, could be so demanding
when it came to music for wind instruments. But that also supposes
that he had at his disposal an exceptional group of wind musicians.
70 MOZART_ENSEMBLE PHILIDOR