Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Violin Concerto in D maj. K 218, Movement 1

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791) was born in Salzburg, Austria.  With his father, Leopold, as teacher he began learning the keyboard at age four.  A year later, at age five, he began composing.  By age six Wolfgang was also playing the violin, and on a visit to Vienna in 1762 charmed a customs officer by playing a minuet on the violin for him.

Wolfgang's older sister, Maria Anna "Nannerl", was exhibiting great skill beyond her age as a keyboardist, and it was clear Wolfgang was as well.  In 1763 the family embarked on a grand tour to showcase their prodigies, taking them to cities across western Europe, all the way to London.  Their return to Salzburg would be three and a half years later.

The years between the Mozarts' tour and the year when Wolfgang composed most of his violin concertos were interspersed with a visit to Vienna, three journeys in Italy, and a few additional visits specifically to Milan.  During this period, in 1773, Wolfgang wrote his first violin concerto.  He would return to this style of work once more in 1775, when he composed his final four violin concertos only months apart.  While the Mozarts, especially Leopold, corresponded at length and with detail during their travels, in 1775 there is little correspondence for us to glean from as the family was home in Salzburg (except for early in the year when Wolfgang and his father were in Munich).  The reason for Wolfgang's compositional flurry of violin concertos remains unknown.

During their tour to London, Leopold mentioned in a letter to a friend that Wolfgang thought constantly of producing an opera entirely with young people.  When he composed his violin concertos 2 through 5 he was only 19 years old, close in age to several members of SCO, and it is interesting to contemplate if he would have found this pleasing.  Another interesting thing to note is both Leopold and Nannerl (Wolfgang was traveling in search for a job) were involved in a community orchestra made up of professional, amateur, and student musicians -- much like SCO.

The Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major (k. 218) has been nicknamed both "Strassburg" and "Military". "Strassburg" turned out to be erroneously applied to the concerto.  The concerto referred to by Wolfgang as his "Strassburg Concerto" is actually his Violin Concerto No. 3 (k. 216), which has elements of a tune called "à la mélodie de Strassbourger" incorporated into the last movement.  The nickname "Military" comes from the trumpet like motif the orchestra begins with, and that is also the opening line of the soloist.  However, the rest of the piece is more operatic and theater like, with side comments and abrupt changes of character.  With this view, perhaps the opening bars are not a military fanfare and more of a call to the audience announcing the start of the show.

-Amelia Busing, SCO Student Violinist