Classical Music | Violin Music

Recorded on 07/27/2016, uploaded on 02/20/2017

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

I.     Adagio-Allegro
II.    Andante cantabile
III.   Tema con variazioni

Duets for violin and viola may seem a rather obscure branch of the chamber music family, but they were popular in 18^th century Austria. Joseph Haydn wrote a set of six sonatas for the soprano and alto instruments in 1773, and ten years later the Archbishop of Salzburg - the imperious Hieronymous Colloredo who made Mozart miserable - ordered Haydn's younger brother Michael to compose another set of six.

Michael Haydn was able to complete only four of the required six, however, before illness intervened. Misinformed or unconcerned about Haydn's situation, the Archbishop threatened to stop the salary of this distinguished musician who had been in his employ for 20 years. The younger Haydn, a composer who was only beginning to get the recognition and performances he deserves, was much admired by Mozart and a close personal friend. When Mozart heard of his colleague's plight in the summer of 1783, he quickly wrote the two delinquent duos himself and delivered them to the Archbishop under Michael Haydn's name.

These graciously virtuosic duos, however, are unmistakably Mozartean, and as Mozart played both violin and viola well, they are - like the Sinfonia concertante, K. 364 - an equal partnership in terms of both musical expression and technical demands.     Notes by John Henken

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.