Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K. 546
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
In Mozart's catalogue of compositions, there is the following entry: ""a short Adagio for two violins, viola and bass for a fugue I wrote a long time ago for two pianos." It tells us that it was written on June 26, 1788, the same day that he completed his Symphony No. 39 in Eb.
The earlier piece that he mentions for two pianos was his Fugue in C minor, K. 426, which he wrote at the end of 1783. That was at a time when he was studying the counterpoint of J. S. Bach. Baron Gottfried von Swieten, the Viennese musical connoisseur and devotee of Bach and Handel, inspired Mozart to arrange and perform the music of these masters, as well as to write counterpoint of his own. In the two years before his fugue for two pianos, Mozart had made string arrangements of fugues from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, had written his own prelude and fugue for piano, and had composed a dance suite in a quasi-Baroque style. However, this powerful C minor fugue is far more severe than those pieces or, for that matter, than most of Mozart's music. Perhaps that was due to the strains of a complex learning experience, but it was an important artistic turning point for Mozart, as he began to integrate his encounter with Bach into his personal musical style.
In transcribing the fugue for strings, he added an Adagio as an introduction, the Adagio and Fugue together being catalogued as K. 546. Duo pianists often play the Adagio in transcription along with the fugue. In fact, Mozart had begun a prelude for the original two-piano version but never finished it, so perhaps this was a way of completing the work.
The string version is often played as a string quartet, although the bass line divides at one point into "violoncelli" and "contra basso," suggesting that Mozart may have had a larger string ensemble in mind.
Why he decided years later to transcribe his fugue for strings -- and why he did so in the midst of writing his final trilogy of symphonies -- is uncertain. Perhaps it was a way of taking a brief time-out from symphony writing. But one might also wonder whether it may have been a way of immersing himself briefly in his old counterpoint studies before turning to his last symphonies and the intricate counterpoint that ends the "Jupiter."
Boston Baroque Performances
Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K. 546
May 7, 1994
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor