Mozart's Stunning Tribute To Bach

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Mozart’s 'Kleine Gigue’ in G major was written in 1789, when Mozart was staying in Leipzig. On 16th May, the day before he left the city, he jotted down this short piece in the notebook of the court organist Carl Immanel Engel. It appears to have been written as a rather cheeky tribute to J.S. Bach who had been cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig earlier in the century. The gigue is written in fugal style with three voices presenting a remarkable cross-rhythmic subject, which also contains an angular sequence of intervals, presenting a ’note-row’ of ten chromatic notes. The musical material and its virtuosic working out are a striking (if not untypical) example of Mozart displaying his compositional prowess in the wittiest and most ingenious manner possible. It is one of the finest keyboard miniatures of the eighteenth century.
It is possible that the theme of Mozart’s ‘Kleine Gigue’ is a homage to the similarly angular fugue subject of Bach’s B minor fugue from ’The Well Tempered Clavier’ Book 1. The theme is also very similar to the concluding gigue of Handel’s F minor harpsichord suite.
Mozart: Kleine Gigue K 574
Pianist: Matthew King.
You can hear a recording of ‘Kleine Gigue’ played by Andràs Schiff here: • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozar...
You can hear a recording of Bach’s B minor fugue from the 'Well Tempered Clavier' Book 1 played by Kimono Ishizaka here: • J.S. Bach, The Well-Te...
You can hear a recording of Handel’s gigue from his F minor Suite played by Charles Tebbs here: • Handel: Gigue in F min...
Tchaikovsky’s orchestration of Mozart’s little gigue in his Fourth Orchestral Suite ‘Mozartiana’ can be heard here: • Tchaikovsky - Suite N...
#Mozart #piano #themusicprofessor
Edited by Ian Coulter ( www.iancoulter... )
Produced and directed by Ian Coulter & Matthew King

[@mckernan603]

1789, kinda funny to think of people living normal lives when all Hell was breaking loose in Paris

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes! But Mozart was very aware of the social and political currents of his time. The Marriage of Figaro is an adaptation of a French play by Beaumarchais, and is essentially a satire of the corruption of aristocratic power, as is its sequel Don Giovanni. Some commentators have speculated that The Magic Flute is an allegory of the French Revolution, with the Queen of the Night representing the Ancien Régime. Mozart was also a keen freemason, and the masonic lodges in Vienna at that time were viewed as hotbeds of revolutionary activism which is why they were all closed down in the 1790s.

[@lilaadel9113]

Kinda like today

[@hiera1917]

@@lilaadel9113well there aren’t exactly hundreds of thousands of small business owners running through the street with pikes breaking into prisons, killing all their inhabitants, and then taking the warden’s head. At least from what I’ve heard

[@micheasz2552]

Not to mention, that prior to the 1792 French Revolution hadn't yet fully hit the fan. The worst was yet to come when Mozart was dying

[@BlossomedJewelsOfficial]

Fr

[@journey3451]

I am a Japanese whose hobby is composing classical music. The teacher's commentary is always fun and I often see it. I didn't have a musical education, and I can't play any instrument, but I recklessly tried to enter a music high school. The reason is that I was able to compose music at that time. I learned piano in a hurry from my music teacher when I was in junior high school. After all, I couldn't play it, so I gave up, but the teacher often said, "When I grow up, I will like Mozart." I felt nostalgic about the feeling of this video. Sorry for the long sentence.

[@ianpayne6656]

Thank you, and now what are you up to?

[@gabbleratchet1890]

@@ianpayne6656 He runs a nationwide chain of dry cleaners.

[@OctopusContrapunctus]

It's fun to see how the fugue, even though being such a strict form, takes the characters of their composers, making fugues distinct and unique from each other

[@Renshen1957]

Baron van Swieten was a Patron of CPE Bach, J Haydn, and Beethoven who dedicated his 1st Symphony, as well as W Mozart. He introduced Mozart to the Well Tempered Clavier, made The Art Of Fugue score available to Beethoven. The “There’s Someone I an learn From” quote was Mozart interrupting a Bach Motet performance by the Cantor of St Thomas Church in his honor, demanding the parts as the wasn’t a full score. Mozart’s performance on the church’s organ in concert elicited a comment from the Cantor, “J S Bach has been resurrected…”

[@kathleencook3060]

Very informative. "Here is someone we can learn from". Great video. Thank you.

[@jenniferbate9682]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge especially about Baron Van Swieten. I had no idea about this.

[@Renshen1957]

@@jenniferbate9682 Your are welcome, Baron van Swieten had one or two other accomplishment's, he invented one of the first (if not the first) card catalog for libraries and he demanded absolute silence at his music concerts he attended a tradition that seems to have spread throughout Western music.

[@aquamarine99911]

@@Renshen1957 Hah, is he the one who ordered that there be no applause between the movements of a sonata/concerto/symphony?

[@Renshen1957]

@@aquamarine99911 The one and the same. When the current Emperor of Austria died, the heir to the throne subsequently fired Van Swieten.

[@nucderpuck]

What an illuminating presentation. I often wonder what Mozart would have written, had he been given some more years to explore the path of the counter point...

[@nottinghillad]

Counterpoint runs throughout Mozart's music way before he discovered Bach. He composed fugues and polyphonic counterpoint into his early religious works, and instrumental & orchestral works. He was quite intricate with counterpoint, so you need an ear for it

[@DaveD5929]

Perhaps one of the better kept secrets in the classical repertoire is the fact that this little 'Gigue' was orchestrated by Tchaikovsky for use as the opening movement of his final orchestral suite, the Suite No. 4, Op. 61, originally titled 'Mozartiana.' Tchaikovsky was an ardent admirer of Mozart, and composed 'Mozartiana' in 1887 as a tribute from one great master to another to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mozart's operatic masterpiece, Don Giovanni. Unlike his symphonies, Tchaikovsky's four Orchestral Suites have been almost criminally neglected for decades and but for a single exception, remain virtually unknown to the general public. The best-known and by far most frequently performed of Tchaikovsky's orchestral suites is the third - Suite No. 3 in G major, Op.55. This massive 45 minute work with its dramatic and memorable 'Theme and Variations' Finale is generally deemed worthy of inclusion alongside his other famous mature masterpieces. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Suites No 1 and 2, which is no doubt a contributing factor as to why they remain little-known and rarely performed outside of Russia. Mozartiana, however, is a charming and totally unique work of genius which deserves a far better fate and place in musical history. It is perhaps most widely known among balletomanes, providing the score for George Balanchine's last major ballet, aptly titled Mozartiana, which he re-choreographed and premiered in 1981 for the New York City Ballet, serving as a vehicle for the prima ballerina, Suzanne Farrell. There are several very fine recordings of Mozartiana available on KZbin as well as videos of the Balanchine ballet. If you are unfamiliar with this work or the Suite No. 3, (the Finale of which is also a famous Balanchine ballet titled 'Theme and Variations'), do yourself a huge favor and check these works out. You'll be glad you did.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes. Tchaikovsky's Mozartiana is mentioned in the video description. I agree with you about the Tchaikovsky suites. I also think the first two are good. The Scherzo Burlesque of the 2nd suite is an absolutely extraordinary piece.

[@ajmarr5671]

@@themusicprofessor the scherzo burlesque is figured in the fantastic opening of Ken Russell's bio pic of Tchaikovsky, 'The Music Lovers' which is available on you tube if you want to take a look ---- Tchaikovsky's use of brass and accordions is breathtaking!

[@Georgeth-kb6rg]

brilliant comment .. thanks

[@ricucci-hillmusic]

This was a joy to listen to! I love your passion for the music and it comes through vividly! :) Keep up the good work!

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you!

[@none941]

Hearing that Mozart openly acknowledged a debt to J.S. Bach is fascinating and rewarding in so many ways. I love them both and am pleased to know of Bach's influence on another great composer.

[@coolcat23]

Good grief, Mozart was an absolute beast. Imagine being Salieri and facing this effortless genius writing. Am I alone in thinking that this piece sounds very "jazzy"?

[@davidgordon9853]

Yes, if I wasn’t told Mozart was the composer I would say absolutely a Bach piece, like an invention.

[@themusicprofessor]

Mozart learned a lot from JSB but I think his own voice is clearly there in this piece (and the great fugue in C minor and other late pieces written under Bach's influence)

[@kandelz]

What a stunning coincidence. I just listened and added Bach's Fugue no. 24 in B minor, and now this video comes up.

[@kullervoson2726]

That's no coincidence. That's the algorithm at work.........😁

[@kandelz]

@@kullervoson2726 I would say in this instance it is because I heard the video on Spotify which is an independent corporation from google.

[@kullervoson2726]

@@kandelz 😀I'm sure you're right. All the same, the machines are listening to us and talking to each other, haha.

[@kandelz]

Yeah, these tech companies sell information to other tech companies to increase profit. Creepy shit man

[@brucejackson4219]

...unheimlich amigo.

[@hvrtguys]

I am a fan of the big three. Bach, Beethoven and Billy Mozart.

[@kevinegan1528]

Excellent video! So many marvels in this gem that you had no time to mention that, with everything else, Mozart turned Bach’s name into a repeated motif here: B-A-C-H (H is the German name for B, B is the name for Bb)!

[@zevyzions]

That was wonderful. I’d love to see more analyses of Mozart’s music. Thank you so much.

[@melodymonger]

I shall seek out the sheet music forthwith and have a go at this lovely piece 🙂. Thank you from a Bach lover in Aus 👍

[@RegCostello]

As a non musician (only an amateur drummer) this gives me a great insight into the genius of Mozart. I think I would like a bass drum beat on the downbeat of every bar to understand what's going on.

[@johnchessant3012]

That B minor fugue from WTC is really awesome. Beethoven seems to have adapted it for his Grosse Fuge, and also some transition material from the B minor fugue appears as transition material in his String Quartet No. 14.

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

I am frequently annoyed by YT which doesnt like my unfettered views....and admittedly they're often not very family' friendly. That said, if only they would take me as a whole, they would find I'm just a normal guy who has passions borh for and against different things,... and anyway, that slight digression aside, if it was not for YT, we wouldn't have ever encountered the Music Prof - and he had far more to complain about than i do - he should be WAY more famous😆😎♥️

[@EUSA1776]

I somehow get airs of the Lacrimosa section of the Requiem Mozart writes leading up to his death. Similar counterpoint and sighing motifs.

[@antoineduchamp4931]

Thank you very much for this musical revelation. I confess to listening to Mozart for 50+ years and luckily have most of his works.... I was taken aback by the work you presented.... it really does not actually sound in the least like Mozart...... rather parts of it were like hearing Mozart through the eyes and ears of the yet unheard of Beethoven... It is said that all great art looks far forward in time.... astonishing that Mozart had this prescient ability to look forward to a musical era that was yet to come....many thanks indeed.

[@wadejnelson]

have recently discovered this channel, and greatly admire the videos, especially those that include deep analysis, which I struggle to understand, but always appreciate

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you! Welcome to the channel!

[@tigger3496]

So this was the music in Kafe 3/F, nice!

[@blindcanseemusic]

Wow. Your analysis was amazing. Your presentation fantastic, I was riveted from start to end. Thank you. Mozart is amazing.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@dfspannie]

Mozart is an amazing genius. But Bach is even more amazing. The absolute master.

[@codex3048]

You are an excellent teacher. I'm glad your "classroom" is global.

[@themusicprofessor]

I agree about the global classroom. Isn't it cool!?

[@1258-Eckhart]

Mozarts depth through intricacy beautifully explained! Cool how you red-circled the non-existent bass line A-crochet at 6:30 - a numinous moment!

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes, it's odd. We used the Artaria first edition from the 1790s. I think the engraver may have forgotten to put it there!

[@REPS-kb7up]

Excellent analysis. Glad I subscribed. Will attempt the pieces, Bach and Mozart.

[@kloug2006]

This is very interesting, knowing that Mozart on a trip to Leipzig let a short composition there, inspired by Handel and Bach. What a surprising mind.

[@rhodemb]

Very beautiful piece, , from sober, and elevating ,to lively and jumping, both reflecting their personalities, and the respect and honor to a late composer.Marvelous, how Mozart brought the piece together.Do me ,nil in music , it sounds modern ,and marvelous

[@rhodemb]

Admiration and love.

[@davidseymour6246]

I’ve always felt it was frustrating that Mozart chose to express his genius through the more facile Gallant style of JC Bach rather than the far more exciting areas that CPE was exploring, and fantasise about how differently music would have evolved had he done so. This amazing piece provides a tantalising glimpse of what we missed out on!

[@themusicprofessor]

In his maturity I think he manages to reconcile those two influences (plus the influence of JSB) in the late symphonies, concertos, quintets and the Magic Flute.

[@davidseymour6246]

Indeed, and that’s another huge ‘what if?’ - given that, as you say, he was starting to really kick off in the last few years, what direction would he have taken things had he not died in his prime? And how would his music have been influenced by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin & Schumann…and even the emerging Wagner! As his final music shows, he would have been completely at home writing in the style of the Romantic Period.

[@themusicprofessor]

There's actually an intriguing possibility that he would have gone to London in the 1790s (Like his friend Haydn) and become rich. It's hard to imagine how Mozart might have responded to subsequent developments... even Beethoven, but I think he might (like Haydn) have been a bit disturbed by Beethoven's wildness and waywardness even if he might have been flattered that the Eroica Symphony appears to quote his Bastien et Bastienne overture! I can imagine him being impressed by Schubert's 5th symphony and early Rossini and Mendelssohn. They're all so indebted to him.

[@davidseymour6246]

Amazing - I had never heard that. Completely agree about Mendelssohn and Rossini; he would have loved Mendelssohn, and they are probably the two most natural composers. Perhaps the old Mozart could have become to Mendelssohn what Haydn had been for him. He may even have done us all a favour and persuaded him to get his finger out and write more music than he did! 😊

[@edgarvalderrama1143]

An explanation that actually teaches us to see the phrasing we might miss on our own!

[@ANDROLOMA]

Bach was great. But Mozart was amazing.

[@samujazz]

Revolver! Yeah 👕

[@otismicrolight4303]

Superb - thank you!

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you!

[@MichaelTLam]

Thank you for including Bad Romance by Lady Gaga 🤣 that funny intro is much faster and a tone lower than the B minor Book I Fugue (back when I was in elementary school I didn't even know the WTC well so I didn't know that's where it came from)

[@themusicprofessor]

That’s because Lady Gaga is using Baroque pitch!

[@josephmathmusic]

Authenticity...

[@jamesupton4996]

Superb exposition. The Lady Gaga reference - I never made the connection before - but there it is staring you in the face.

[@yelnats85]

Like the music, your video is also worth repeated study. Many thanks for an exciting introduction to these three works

[@themusicprofessor]

Thanks for the support!

[@divox9pqr]

Imitation was and continues to be the sincerest form of flattery.

[@jenniferbate9682]

Love this. Thank you so much. Really love it.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you!

[@AlanMordue-hx5wv]

This is really great, thank you!

[@blackpoolram]

Utterly brilliant analysis of a stunning piece of music!

[@mizuqatsi]

Thank you mister Music Professor, it is exactly how I feel this Gigue. You might add that in the second part, Mozart goes from C# major to C major in about three bars, and that this is quite a feat, and that the ear is very unsettled. And thank you for the similarities with the two pieces by Bach and Handel.

[@teukel1157]

Thank you for your insights, truly.

[@jonstein6868]

terrific breakdown of a fascinating piece (I didn´t know it previously), inspiring us once again with the genius of Mozart - and Bach. Keep up the great work Prof!

[@remorrey]

So grateful and thrilled to have "discovered" your channel. I'm putting a very modest Patreon contribution towards my music lessons through your superb channel. Thank you.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you so much! It's greatly appreciated. I hope we can continue to produce content that you'll enjoy.

[@user-francescob]

Dear Mr. Music Professor: You are an excellent teacher because you see "between the lines" to get into the mind of the composer. And your enthusiasm is genuine and infectious! A composer's intent is not completely explained in the written music. This is a hard thing for performers and conductors to understand, but IMHO, separates adequate performers from masters. I have one suggestion. I suspect that Mozart had a more serious intention for that first "pick-up" note in measure one, and subsequent measures, that's being marginalized here. He was certainly more involved with the rhythm of phrases than Bach, and might he have intended to start the phrases on that last 1/8 note (6th beat) of the measures. It would lead to a different feel for the phrases: ONE-2-3-4-FIVE-six, where the "2" was the 1st beat of the next measure. This is an even more extreme example of "Cross-Bar" phrasing/rhythm. And dare I say, if Mozart intended, but couldn't state sufficiently, he played a "swinging 8th note" on that 1st note of each phrase... He would have invented Jazz, over a century before it evolved out of early Dixieland music in New Orleans, USA. I believe that Mozart was experimenting with rhythms so extensively, that he MAY have stumbled onto highly syncopated styles that audiences of his day, just were not ready to digest. These would likely NOT be published or even saved for posterity. I could easily use this re-phrasing above, to develop a Bebop Jazz head, that would be a great launch-point for a killer tune. Charley Parker would have taken this melody to the Moon! ... Standing on the shoulders of Bach, and Mozart of course.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you so much for your kind remarks. I think your suggestion that the upbeat 8th note is meant to be heard as a downbeat is very interesting - that would certainly connect with the extraordinary '2/4' passage later on. You're right that Mozart's sense of rhythm was (like the rest of his musical vocabulary) marvellously rich and more advanced than any other composer of his period.

[@jaquetpotato813]

Hi just wanted to say thank you for the videos and keeping them interesting with bits of humour

[@user-yq6xy7im2p]

Шикарно. Умно. Доходчиво!

[@themusicprofessor]

Спасибо!

[@hanseldornellas5608]

thank you. quite interesting. i read somewhere that Mozart's k457 had possible influences from a Bach piece. When i first listened to this sonata, i had to look again to verify i read the composer's name correctly, because It sounded like a Beethoven sonata. Then in the second movement there were noticeable hints of 2nd movement to Beethoven's pathetique sonata. Would be nice if you did a video on this possible 3-way influence for k457. thanks again.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes indeed. K457 had a very powerful effect on Beethoven, who essentially built his 'C minor style' on Mozart's foundation. He also loved the great minor key piano concertos K466 and 491 and the first movement (C minor) of his final sonata (Op 111) shows a discernable influence from the first movement of Mozart's A minor sonata K210

[@berritandersen288]

🙏

[@chipthequinn]

Terrific explication.

[@jeremyhill1973]

You are amazing! Thank you!

[@AMaj7Sharp5]

Marvelous breakdown. Thanks for the content.

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

i went to Leipzig. I am a 6th generation student of Ludwig Ban Veethoven.

[@aachoocrony5754]

He also took Bach's fugue motif from one of his late toccatas in the fugue of his Requiem.

[@potsdam521]

That Gigue is much more influenced by Handel ones than Bachs

[@TundraTrash]

Mozart lurved him some vertical hemiola.

[@GodmyX]

Thank you!

[@jamessauve2419]

Great video, glad I found this channel. The only suggestion I have is the sound on the speech is a bit poor. Using a lapel mic might be worth considering. Thanks!

[@themusicprofessor]

Actually a lapel mic. distorts the piano sound. We would need to record in a professional studio to make this work better.

[@airpanache]

I will always thank Tchaikovsky dedicated that Mozartiana suites to him and now it’s even better to realise that this odd and charming Gigue is actually his dedication to Bach.

[@aimilios439]

The theme also reminds me the prelude of BWV 998 a little, but I don't know if Mozart would have seen that.

[@themusicprofessor]

The Prelude, Fugue and Allegro?

[@aimilios439]

@@themusicprofessor Yes! The first phrase of the prelude has a similar harmonic ring to me.

[@ulisesplarocher9761]

Nice shirt.

[@Baseline_truth]

Very cheeky

[@JonathanOvnat]

Great stuff!

[@lukemadams]

That man's imagination was inexhaustible

[@johnmason8968]

If Mozart’s 'Kleine Gigue is a tto Bach, I wonder if the same could be said of the second movement of his piano concerto #23? There is something about the piece that seems to suggest to me, at least, that he was trying to evoke the Baroque style.

[@themusicprofessor]

Very much so. It's a siciliano with (I think very deliberate) Bach-like elements in the harmony and voice leading.

[@tinovanderzwanphonocave544]

one of Mozart's mentors was Johann Christian Bach JS's son so he would have been familiar with JS's music early on I think BWV903 was probably one of the pieces he had to learn since motives of it do turn up in some WA's pieces.

[@tinovanderzwanphonocave544]

fun fact the motive you played at the beginning shows up in the Monty Python sketch ''Its Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -famous deaths'' if anyone knows who the artist is in this tv used sound clip I would really like to know and have been pondering over it for 40 years!

[@williamsackelariou1860]

Sorry pressed wrong button They reffered toJSB as OUR BACH This implies not only respect but affectionate àppreciation for the emotion that that his music stirred in them etc etc

[@tinovanderzwanphonocave544]

I have noticed there's no Scarlatti on the channel like Vivaldi he was instrumental in influencing contemporary and later composers so, a vid on one of his 500 or so sonatas would be appreciated.

[@themusicprofessor]

I love Scarlatti so yes!

[@matteogarzetti]

Wonderful lesson! But sound and voice are a little blur. Thanks!

[@stephenpenwolf]

Love the t-shirt… 😎

[@civanacikalin7664]

Thanks for the lovely video Professor 🙌🏻 . Did you know you could buy a lavalier mic for only €20? Just a thought 😉

[@themusicprofessor]

We've bought one now. This video was made before we had!

[@MosheFeder]

I didn't know this piece and immediately loved it. Your demonstrations and comments were also helpful. But PLEASE, get a small second microphone you can wear so we don't have to struggle to hear you as you turn to and from the piano. Thanks.

[@xdcountry]

I’ve always wonder if Bach really had another Bach-like person of his time- it seems to me that he was the mold, the first one of his kind.

[@jean-yvesPrax]

Buxtehude ! We know that the young JSB, 20 y. went to Lübeck -400 kms far, by foot, to meet with the great master Buxtehude. We don't have any sources relating what happened, but JSB definitively changed after this event. Buxtehude is, of course, not a genius at the level of JSB but his music is extremely sensitive, mystic, innovative... The "Jesus, meine liebes lieben" is one of the most beautiful music I had to accompany in continuo

[@RModillo]

Connoisseurs always knew. Beethoven had memorized both books of the WTC as a student, and made all of his students learn them.

[@jeffreyjeziorski1480]

"Make the well tempered clavier your daily bread and butter." ............Robert Shumann......

[@thijsdebeus5096]

According to wikipedia, Beethovens theme in his 'Great Fugue' (Op. 133) might also be modelled on WTC 1 B-Minor (Fugue in B minor, BWV 869). Could Beethoven have known Mozarts Kleine gigue? Is there a relation between the two works?

[@themusicprofessor]

Beethoven knew some of Mozart's music very well. There is no evidence that he knew the little gigue but he may have done. It's a very interesting question: both works share a very angular chromatic fugal idiom, and Beethoven does explore his own highly advanced syncopated 6/8 rhythms in the third part of the Grosse Fuge,

[@josephmathmusic]

3:30 Bach anticipating Mozart, Schonberg and Lady Gaga with a same fugue subject

[@zicada7661]

Audio quality ought to be a little better on a channel like this.

[@themusicprofessor]

We are working on it

[@vapidrabbit198]

i wish you would record your audio differently... the acoustics of the room make it difficult to understand you, but when i turn the volume up the piano is way too loud.

[@themusicprofessor]

We are working on improving our audio

[@lucpraslan]

Jackie Weaver? She's an Australian actor, I met her once.

[@themusicprofessor]

Different Jackie Weaver.

[@lucpraslan]

@@themusicprofessor Who is your Jackie Weaver?

[@themusicprofessor]

@@lucpraslan type 'jackie weaver zoom call' into Google

[@lucpraslan]

@@themusicprofessor I found the parish meeting video, I know who your Jackie Weaver is now 👍🏻

[@philguy9259]

Your channel is fantastic, and I've learned a lot about music from it, but your videos contain unnecessary effects like zooming and distracting overlays that detract from the excellent content.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you. There is a wide range of opinion about our editing.

[@contactleone2656]

❤❤❤❤

[@GibraltarFiddler]

I think it might actually be a tribute to the fugal theme in the first movement of Bach’s Mass in b minor.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes, that theme is similarly angular. Also the finale of the E minor keyboard Partita.

[@MrMaelstrom07]

What's the name and K listing for this piece?

[@themusicprofessor]

it's in the video description

[@roberthubbard5696]

What is the K number for this?

[@roberthubbard5696]

K574

[@ComposedBySam]

Such an interesting video! But I must ask if Beethoven too had this same subject in mind when he wrote the Große Fuge (exposing the similar sounding subject in the overtura)?

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you. Yes, very good question. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven all knew Baron von Zwieten, and all of them studied Bach and Handel, and all of them knew that this was music which would enrich and deepen their compositional style. Haydn back in the 1770s was inspired to compose fugal finales for his Op 20 quartets, Mozart in his late music becomes increasingly concerned with elaborate contrapuntal structures (the quartets he dedicated to Haydn, the mass in C minor, the 19th piano concerto, the finale of the Jupiter symphony, the quintets, the late piano sonatas, the Magic Flute etc. etc. Beethoven (who studied the WTC as a child) was influenced by Bach as early as the Pathetique Sonata (the introduction to the first movement is clearly modelled on Bach's C minor Partita) but the influence of both Bach and Handel become profound from about 1816 onwards: the last 5 piano sonatas, the 9th symphony, Missa Solemnis, the Handelian Consecration of the House overture, the Diabelli variations (which were clearly composed to 'rival' Bach's Goldberg variations) and the late quartets. The angular fugue subject in the first movement of the quartet Op 131 is clearly modelled on the C sharp minor fugue from Bach's WTC book 1 (a piece that Beethoven is known to have played frequently) and the Grosse Fuge certainly feels like a theme whose 'serious' and challenging theme derives from similarly serious and angular fugue subjects in Bach (the theme also appears in a different context in the development section of the A minor quartet Op 132). What is striking in late Beethoven is how he manages to assimilate these Baroque influences into an idiom that is uniquely his own.

[@ComposedBySam]

@@themusicprofessor You're so knowledgeable! Yes, I also have heard that the slow exposition of the pathetique sonata was inspired from the exposition of Bach's C minor partita. Yeah I do recall Beethoven using those angular fugal subjects in many of his late works. Yes it baffles me too how Beethoven really transformed the fugue into something so expressive, unique and powerful. He really had this godly musical intuition which helped him to carve his own unique path. I really appreciate you for writing such a detailed and thoughtful answer. Cheers! :)

[@potsdam521]

This was more a tribute to Handel than Bach. As per the funkiness I think the Minuet k 355 goes on par

[@themusicprofessor]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYjUdnaLrpinic0si=0aclEMGISkmS0VIO

[@martinbennett2228]

I don't know why you don't play the gigue more gracefully phrased with more emphasis on the slurs. I think it is also easier to play it this way.

[@TheTristanmarcus]

I think I had to teach this piece to an ABRSM Grade 7 piano student recently - I think she gave up, finding it too difficult. Not really a great 7 piece, I think 🤔

[@wowbagger1954]

It was a Grade 7 piece when I played if in 1971.

[@brucejackson4219]

JSB primus inter pares ?

[@themusicprofessor]

I guess. Certainly one of the giants.

[@brucejackson4219]

@@themusicprofessor ...and I have a soft spot for J Christian B ... Cara la Dolce Fiamma is superb AND [so I read] inspired W A M during a trip to Blighty. Best etc. amigo.

[@williamsackelariou1860]

Comments are not quite correct JSBs music was very much loved by the townsfolk They called Our Bach This im

[@TomKilworth]

But Matthew, it’s on the Grade 7 syllabus so it can’t be that hard! 😂

[@izzyk867]

I think I did it for Grade 7, but I didn’t play it as well as this!

[@peterail]

A shame you had to perform in a reverberating racketball court. Mercy!

[@user-zr4vx5nd9f]

Funny editing😂 No authority J weaver

[@themusicprofessor]

Happy to get some appreciation!

[@Tatzelbrumm]

… and here I thought that Mozart's stunning tribute to Bach was KV231. Music Professor, HOW obvious is it that the first note in KV231 [ kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWqwf2WNmtZ5j5osi=EUpcarLakOLMoH6X ], i.e., Mozart's kiss from behind, is a B natural (German notation: H), not a B flat (German notation: B)?

[@tjwhite1963]

It would have been lovely to have heard this on either a harpsichord or a Viennese fortepiano, the two main keyboard instruments Mozart is well known to have performed on. ... but, oh well! 🤔

[@themusicprofessor]

I agree - by this stage in his career, Mozart preferred the fortepiano, and in fact I have played it on a 1780s Viennese fortepiano in the extraordinary collection at Hatchlands, but on this occasion a modern grand piano was all that was available

[@tjwhite1963]

And that is understandable. I myself fell completely in love with the sound of the Walter-style fortepianos many years ago. Thanks for your reply, and keep the interesting and informative videos coming please!

[@bearcb]

Great content, but you need to improve your sound capture

[@sibionic]

Did Mozart rate Handel?

[@themusicprofessor]

Very much. He made new orchestrations of Acis & Galatea and Messiah.

[@AlexanderJWei]

@@themusicprofessor I recently listened to Mozart's Requiem after hearing his version of Messiah, and I realized that he had taken some lessons from it, which he used in the Requiem

[@sibionic]

thanks - very much. Is there any concrete evidence that Bach knew Handel's music? @@themusicprofessor

[@mr-wx3lv]

Well as much as I admire both genii, I don't think Mozart was a gifted contrapuntalist. Having said that, take a look at the finale of Jupiter symphony. I think that's his masterpiece. Great video. Sound repro not too clear though 👍

[@themusicprofessor]

The finale of the Jupiter absolutely. Also the finale of K 387 (kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2TFcpyKqbJlhsU&ab_channel=DamonJ.H.K.) or the marvellous finale of K459 (kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3-aopSdjKxrqNU&ab_channel=RichardAtkinson) or K 547 (kzbin.info/www/bejne/enrTdZ9mZ9-AoJY&ab_channel=GeorgeN.Gianopoulos%2Ccomposer) or the Magic Flute overture or the C minor mass (kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmaYYp2Yd9xgppY&ab_channel=SP%27sscorevideos) etc.

[@ricardoamez1608]

Mozart's genius goes far beyond keybord, orchestral or instrumental compositions. His sacred music has plenty of mesmerizing contrapuntal masterworks, often rivaling Bach's. Misericordias Domini K 222 is just one of them, not to mention the monumental Hosanna fugue for two choirs in the Great C minor mass, or the spellbinding double fugue of the Requiem's Kyrie eleison, among numerous other works.

[@paxwallace8324]

I've heard enough Mozart counterpoint to appreciate Bach even more because Wolfie's counterpoint never reaches Bach on many levels. For harmonic complexity I give you WTC ll #22 in Bb minor and for power I give you Art of the Fugue contrapunctus #4.

[@themusicprofessor]

Well, Mozart didn't have time to develop as far perhaps. However, the great C minor Adagio and fugue for string quintet is an example of marvellous contrapuntal inventiveness, and Mozart wrote a number of pieces that combine advanced classical style with 'learned' contrapuntal technique: the finale of his G major quartet K 387 or the even more sensational finale to the Jupiter Symphony are two famous examples.

[@pwjaiter6277]

I always find it funny when Mozart writes so contrapuntal, sounds a bit like a violist is trying to play tuba or something😂

[@clavichord]

Are you saying Mozart couldn't Händel Bach?

[@eugeneclasby518]

You have a very strange sense of humor.

[@clavichord]

@@eugeneclasby518 Mozart had an "unusual" sense of humour.

[@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401]

You definitely do not understand Mozart!

[@eugeneclasby518]

@@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401 You watch too many bad movies. Like Amadeus.