235. Diversions

The Concert - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Works by Mozart for violin and viola performed by Chad Hoopes and Matthew Lipman on November 22, 2015 and for chamber orchestra performed by A Far Cry on September 7, 2014.

• Mozart: Duo in G Major for Violin and Viola, K. 423
• Mozart: Divertimento in F, K. 138

The word “diversion” has two, related meanings. Sometimes – as in Mozart’s Duo in G Major for violin and viola – it is about a surprise change in course. Mozart was in Salzburg for an extended visit with his new wife when he discovered that his friend Michael Haydn (Josef’s brother) had fallen ill in the midst of an important commission. The Archbishop had commissioned Haydn to write a set of six duos, but he’d gotten sick after completing the fourth and hadn’t been able to finish. Mozart gamely stepped into the void and offered to write the remaining pair.

Then, we have a diversion of the second sort: a distraction, a trifle, a delight designed to entertain, in between other things. This is the Divertimento in F, also by Mozart. Divertimento, of course, means “diversion” or “amusement” in Italian, and the genre consists mostly of lighthearted pieces that might be heard at a party or social function. There’s some question about whether, in this case, the title was assigned by the composer—in the score, the word “divertimento” appears in someone else’s hand—but the music certainly fits. We’ll hear it performed by A Far Cry, the Gardner’s resident chamber orchestra.

First, the Duo in G Major.