Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

the working manuscript of bars 66-77 of the second movement ('Andante'), scored for an orchestra of two oboes, two horns and strings, including solo violin, notated in brown ink on a single 8-stave system per page, containing a few corrections and alterations

2 pages, small oblong 4to (16.2 x 21.8cm), 10-stave ('Klein-Querformat') paper, Tyson watermark 31, pagination number '49' and foliation number '19' in pencil, both possibly in the hand of Leopold Mozart, at the upper right-hand corner of the recto, modern fitted folder, no place or date [probably Salzburg, 1773], leading edge trimmed, affecting foliation number, some very slight spotting to edges

NMA IV/1/2, Kritischer Bericht, p. b/25; NMA X/33/2, 'Wasserzeichen 31' (Kassel. etc., 1992), p.13; H.C. Robbins Landon (ed.), The Mozart Companion, (London, 1990), p.271

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This is a fine leaf from one of Mozart's most attractive Salzburg works, the Serenade in D for orchestra, K.185. 

Although the exact date of composition of the splendid seven-movement serenade K.185, as well as the purpose for which it was written, has not been established beyond doubt, it is generally assumed that the work was intended as a summer Finalmusik for the graduation from Salzburg University of Judas Thaddäus von Antretter (born 28 October 1753), a friend of the Mozart family. Preceded by the processional march K.189, the serenade would have been performed twice, once in front of the Mirabell Palace, the Archbishop's summer residence in Salzburg, and again on the other side of the river, on the former Kollegienplatz in front of the assembled professors and students. The view expressed in the sixth edition of Köchel's  catalogue of Mozart's works (published 1964), that the work was presumably written in Vienna between July and the beginning of August 1773 (Mozart visited the Austrian capital with his father Leopold between July and September of that year), is based, it seems, on a misinterpretation of a reference to the work in a letter of 21 July 1773 by Leopold Mozart. In his letter Leopold writes as follows: "Ich muß schlüssen, dann es ist zeit noch ein paar Zeihlen an den jungen H: v Andretter zu schreiben und den Anfang der Final Musik zu schicken [I must close, for there is still time for me to write a few lines to young Herr von Andretter and to send him the beginning of the Finalmusik]". This reference to the 'beginning' of the serenade undoubtedly means however the March K.189 (q.v. below), and not the beginning of the serenade proper, for already in a letter of 12 August 1773 we find Leopold commenting on news of a successful performance of the work in Salzburg, expressing his and Wolfgang's satisfaction ("...wir sind froh, daß die finalmusik gut von statten gegangen..."). Clearly, given these time constraints, only the march K.189 could have been composed in Vienna, and not the 116-page-long serenade itself, comprising as it does of a lengthy opening sonata-allegro, two slow movements (nos. 2 and 5), two minuets (nos. 4 and 6), an interpolated concerto rondo movement (no.3) and a closing Allegro assai, preceded by an Adagio introduction. 

The music contained on this leaf are the climactic bars (66-77) of the Andante second movement: i.e. the music of the recapitulation of the second theme towards the close of the movement (the second theme's recapitulation actually starts two bars earlier, at b.64). Here the solo violin's magical high c''', held over the delicate melodic spray of the violins, moves to the highest note yet encountered in the solo part in this movement - an f''' (b.68), which also recurs in b.71. The leaf ends with the bar that ushers in the solo cadenza (not written out here, as this would have been improvised by the soloist); with a further two bars the movement is at an end - these bars are contained on the next leaf of the serenade autograph (fol.20r). The Andante is one of two concerto-like movements found in the serenade which are in a key somewhat remote from the work's home key of D major, namely F major. This rather distant tonal world certainly lends a sense of enchantment to this exquisite and compactly proportioned movement. 

Mozart's score of the Serenade K. 185 was made up of 58 leaves, of which the present manuscript is leaf 19. The serenade was originally bound together with the March K. 189 (167b) in one volume assembled by the composer's father, Leopold Mozart, and provided by him with a manuscript title on the original red marbled wrapper ("Serenata / Del Sig:^re Cavaliere Amadeo / Wolfgango Mozart / Accademico di Bologna / e di / Verona / 1773"). This is the so-called Cranz volume no. 1, named after a former owner, the Hamburg publishing house of August Cranz; an earlier owner was Schubert's friend Leopold von Sonnleithner. Another volume owned by Cranz contained nine symphonies by Mozart, from the years 1773-1774: this is the famous "Cranz volume no.3", which was sold in these rooms on 22 May 1987, lot 457. In 1966, the Processional March (introducing the Serenade) was sold separately at auction in Germany, and is now preserved in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek. K.185 was offered at auction in 1975, and subsequently dismembered; the exact whereabouts of much of the autograph being currently unknown. The present leaf was not examined by Alan Tyson, whose catalogue of Mozart's watermarks (published in 1992 as a supplement volume to the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe) lists only 11 of K.185's 58 leaves (and none of those 11 leaves is from the second movement). Two different leaves from the second movement have previously been offered at auction in these rooms: folio 16, containing bars 29-39 (19 May 2006, lot 115), and folio 17, containing bars 40-53 (1 December 2010, lot 52); a further leaf of the Serenade autograph, folio 38, containing the last 13 bars of the fifth movement, appeared here in the sale of 26 May 2000, lot 185.