Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart And Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Music has been around since the beginning of time. People use it for entertainment, expression, and a form of art. When thinking about classical music (and music in general) the one person that comes to mind is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This paper will go into depth of the cultural significance and meaning of one of Mozart’s most famous pieces, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Mozart’s music was considered to be commercial theatrical and a form of cinematic exploitation, bringing different elements to music that the people have never heard before in the classical era. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian composer born January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. When he was around the age of six he had already acquired a reputation throughout Europe as

In present-day practice, it is typically performed in an orchestral arrangement. It is a serenade that is made up four-movements. It opens with a bright allegro in sonata form, and a slow, lyrical second movement follows. The third movement is a light minuet, and the finale is a brisk rondo. The characteristics and historical background of this genre was known to be a form of courtship but eventually transitioned to being a set of light dances at social gatherings, “Although it originally denoted an evening song for courtship, the term serenade by the late 18th century was used broadly to describe a chamber work intended for light entertainment on a social occasion. Serenades enjoyed great popularity in south-central Europe, particularly in Vienna, where Mozart spent the last decade of his life. At that time, it was customary for ensembles to perform serenades in Vienna’s parks and gardens, and the creation of such pieces became a lucrative source of income for composers” (Schwarm, 2015). A movement that is worth looking into is the second movement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. The second movement is shorter compared to most Romantic era pieces, it has a slow tempo with section A (which it opens with) being prominent and pieces of section B appearing. The first violin carries out a fast tempo which makes the transition to section B, which is more rhythmic. At the end there is a short coda of three orchestral hits that extend the idea of theme A and bring the second movement to a close. Mozart’s piece fit into the cultural theme of the classical era for two reasons: The writing was hummable, creating memorable melodies (the main tunes of a piece), and it used the melodies within the context of specific musical