Accompanied by the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, American violinist Hilary Hahn performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.
Mozart composed this concerto in Salzburg in 1775, when he was only 19 years old. It is one of the most-loved concertos of the composer, thanks to its lightness and the ease with which one can appreciate it fully, rather than being too complex or elitist.
Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 Movements
With the starting times in the video:
1. Allegro (00:00)
The first movement, Allegro is in sonata form, opening with a G major theme, played by the orchestra. The main theme is a bright and happy discussion between the solo violin and the accompaniment, followed by modulation to the dominant D major, then its parallel key D minor. It experiments in other keys but does not settle and eventually heads back to the tonic, G major, in the recapitulation with the help of the cadenza.
2. Adagio (10:35)
The second movement, Adagio is also in ternary form, and in the dominant key of D major. The orchestra begins by playing the well-known and beautiful main theme, which the violin imitates one octave higher. The winds then play a dance-like motif in A major, which the violin concludes on its own.
After a conclusion in A, the violin plays the main theme again, remaining in the same key. When it should have sounded A natural, it sounds A sharp, and the melody switches to B minor, in a fairly tragic passage.
It soon modulates back to A major, and to the home key of D major through the main theme. After the cadenza, and in a quite unusual thing for Mozart to do, the violin plays the main theme again, thus concluding the movement in D.
3. Rondeau. Allegro (21:00)
The third movement is a Rondeau Allegro, and opens with an orchestra theme which gave the concerto its nickname: “Straßburg”. After a lonely, short passage by the oboes only, the solo violin enters with a different melody which modulates to D.
A brilliant and high passage in D is soon followed by a descending arpeggio-like melodic line which eventually leads to the G string and repeats itself. After the second time, the violin plays the lonely oboe line from the introduction. A chromatic scale then leads to the “Straßburg” theme with the violin playing.
The orchestra imitates the violin and abruptly changes to B minor and a B minor violin theme: exactly the same theme as in the first violin solo played in the relative minor key. As the theme itself repeats, it once again abruptly changes to E minor. The small E minor cadenza introduces the orchestra, which once again plays the “Straßburg” theme in G major.
After a couple of bars in D major by the orchestra, the music goes from Allegro to an Andante in G minor, almost in the fashion of a scherzo-trio form. The strings play saltando quavers while the violin plays a note-rest small melodic line that repeats itself and eventually leads to a G major Allegretto.
The violin plays a crotchet-only playful theme, while the orchestra plays brilliant and fast threesome up-and-down notes, in a way that the solo violin’s part acts as a background only. The parts switch and now the orchestra plays the playful theme, while the violin gets to show off by playing fast notes. The quick passages stop for the violin to play a more ceremonial theme played on the D and A strings, in the fashion of a Musette.
This pattern sounds two more times until the violin concludes the fast theme with a low G and switches to Tempo 1. After a few bars, the first solo theme is that the violin is played as a variation in A minor. The violin plays the “Straßburg” theme in G minor, and the orchestra imitates it in the usual form of G major.
After the typical first solo variation, this time in the tonic key. The violin plays another small cadenza which leads to the last “Straßburg” theme played in two octaves. The orchestra plays it one-third time in the lower octave. Instead of ending the concerto in a pompous way, Mozart chose to end it instead with the lonely oboe theme in G major played piano, adding the feeling of a musical “disappearing”.
Hilary Hahn
Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. In her active international career, she has performed throughout the world both as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and as a recitalist. She also has built a reputation for championing contemporary music. Several composers have written works especially for her, including concerti by Edgar Meyer and Jennifer Higdon.
Sources
- César Franck: Violin Sonata [Argerich, Capuçon] - September 8, 2024
- Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 “Appassionata” [Anna Fedorova] - September 7, 2024
- Telemann: Concerto for Recorder and Viola da Gamba [Barrocada] - September 3, 2024