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Mozart or not? The musical evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2001

Abstract

The orchestrally accompanied recitative which precedes the aria ‘Vado ma dove’ does contain gestures and harmonies found in Mozart’s accompagnati, yet it differs from his standard practices in a number of respects. Its lack of motivic development, persistent use of unison, and reiteration of chords and arpeggios in the same inversion all diverge from Mozart’s customary procedures. Moreover, the passage does not include a chord progression found in practically all of the composer’s accompagnati. If the recitative is by Mozart, it appears, as Link argues, that he composed it in haste. The music and the manuscript evidence also suggest that one of Mozart’s pupils or an apprentice at the Burgtheater may have composed the passage. Whoever wrote the recitative, however, brought the scene more in line with late eighteenth-century operatic practice.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 Cambridge University Press

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