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Serenade No. 12 in C minor, K. 388/384a, was written by W. A. Mozart in 1781 or 1782. It was written for an ensemble made up of 8 wind instruments arranged in pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns which had recently developed in Venice. The Serenade consists of four movements typical of a contemporary symphony. It was later arranged for string quintet.

History
The date '1782' is written on the score in Mozart's hand, and that is the only solid clue we have as to the composition of this work. In the years before this, Mozart had been in the employ of the court of Salzburg as the Konzertmeister of the orchestra. However, Mozart did not have all of the freedoms he was originally promised as part of the job. His discontent led to him be released from service by virtue of a kick out the door from the archbishop on June 8, 1781. Following that, he moved to Vienna and began courting his future wife, Constanze Weber (his ex-lover’s sister) whom he married in August 1782.

In April of that year, Emperor Joseph II established a specific ensemble for his court. This kaiserliche Harmonie consisted of pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns. This octet, the "imperial wind band" was tasked with playing at the emperor's table and at various outdoor events. As was common at the time, many other courts soon employed this ensemble in order to endear themselves to the imperial court. According to his letters, Mozart was commissioned to write a piece for a wind octet in a very short timespan. Though never named specifically, Mozart wrote to his father in July, 1782, "I have had to compose in a great hurry a serenade but only for wind instruments." K. 388 was the only wind serenade written around this time, so this must have been written in a hurry. According to a Mozart scholar, the piece was commissioned in 1782 by Prince Liechtenstein (Vienna) who wanted music for entertainment, and it had to be composed in two days.

Mozart’s Serenade in c minor for winds was a distinct work of its time. Many wind instruments were in their infancy and music for winds was just beginning to be written. The use of c minor suggests its function. It is likely that Mozart did write it as serious music rather than lighter music for entertainment. Serenades up to the point of the Classical period were almost always lighter works meant to celebrate something and were almost certainly to be performed outside. In the Classical period, the serenade became related to the divertimentos. It was to be a multi-movement work, lighter in tone and texture, and often written for a special occasion.

Instrumentation


The Harmoniemusik ensemble had only recently evolved and was primarily used at outdoor functions where the music needed to carry. Daniel Gleeson, a Mozart scholar, suggests that, "although it had its roots in outdoor function and for military purpose, Harmoniemusik was in fact a strong musical movement throughout Vienna, and in fact Mozart encouraged his own students to arrange and compose works for winds."[6] Initially, the ensemble was a sextet of pairs of oboes, horns, and bassoons. Following the establishment of the imperial wind band, the addition of clarinets became typical across the genre.

Each instrument has a different function in the ensemble not only due to range, but also due to timbre. Mozart and other Classical period composers had been experimenting with tone color in their symphonies by using various wind ensembles in addition to strings.

Oboes:

The oboe functions as a solo voice throughout the piece. Both oboes command solo passages at some point, and they are rarely used as an accompaniment to another solo as their particular timbre allows them to soar over the rest.

Clarinets:

The clarinet, an instrument Mozart was fond of due to his relationship with famed performer Anton Stadler, shows its versatility in K. 388. They are often tasked with accompanying other instruments while playing softly at many registers throughout their range. The clarinet is also frequently treated as a solo instrument and has short solos in each movement with frequent melodic work throughout.

Bassoons:

Bassoons often act almost solely as the motor of the piece. They have frequent passages which are highly integral to the piece and do not yield to breaths. In the slow movement, the bassoons act as melodic harmony when they are not providing a rhythmic motor.

Horns:

At the time of composition, the horn was a keyless and valveless instrument which would have to add or subtract tubing in order to change keys. Mozart, though often allowing the horns the safety of harmonic pads, sometimes stretches the capability of the instrument by assigning complex melodic passages during the fast movements. They are often used as a companion to the clarinets as both have an open and round tone quality (both today and with period instruments).

Analysis
Mozart’s Serenade No. 12 in C minor is a four-movement work written for wind octet. Its construction is very similar to symphonies written during the Classical period with a fast-slow-minuet-fast flow from movement to movement. Following performance practice, a period performance of the piece would last roughly 24 minutes. This is the only true wind symphony he composed and is unique to his wind ensemble work in that it is the only piece written in a minor key.

The first movement, an Allegro, is written in a symphonic style and immediately establishes a dark, minor tone. This movement is built as a sonata and each instrument family takes the lead at some point.

The second movement, an Andante, is a typical slow waltz and has modulated to the relative major, Eb major. As is also typical of a classical slow movement, this movement is full of solo and cadenza passages. Dynamics are much softer throughout this movement than in the opening Allegro, though they are sometimes interrupted with sforzando-pianos. Mozart also uses metered silence through the movement to further organize the music.

The third movement, a Minuet and Trio, returns to the opening key of C minor. This movement contains a canon between the oboes and bassoons before the trio develops in C major. Throughout the movement, Mozart uses the canon in its home position, in inverted position, and finally as a mirror canon. In the inverted and mirror portions, the clarinets take over some melodic responsibilities from the oboes. The entire movement contains occasional dissonance which is almost always in the form of an interval of a second.

The fourth movement, another Allegro, is a theme and variations. This movement explores the abilities of each instrument more than any of the previous movements. There are eight variations after the theme and the piece ends in C major without recalling the opening melody of the piece.

Thematic Analysis
A full copy of the score is available at imslp.org

Following the symphonic structure, K. 388 is the only true wind symphony composed by Mozart. The thematic analysis below is taken from several sources, though the formatting is based on that given at scoiosound.wordpress.com

I. ALLEGRO

A. Exposition (cut time)

m. 1-9 Primary Theme (A) (c)

m. 10-21 Primary Theme (B) (c)

m. 22-27 Primary Theme (A) (c)

m. 28-41 Transition

m. 42-53 2nd theme (a twice) (Eb)

m. 54-65 2nd theme (b twice) (Eb)

m. 66-81 Closing theme A (Eb)

m. 82-94 Closing theme B (Eb)

B. Development

m. 95-107 Primary Theme A (m. 5)

m. 108-121 Primary Theme B

m. 122-129 Primary Theme B (m. 22-25)

A. Recapitulation

m. 130-138 Primary Theme (A) (C)

m. 139-150 Primary Theme (B) (C)

m. 151-158 Primary Theme (A) (C)

m. 159-176 Transition (extended)

m. 177-189 2nd theme (a twice) (C)

m. 190-200 2nd theme (b twice) (C)

m. 201-216 Closing theme A (C)

m. 217-end Closing theme B (c)

II. ANDANTE

A. Exposition (3/8)

m. 1-8 Primary Theme (A) (Eb M)

m. 9-15 Primary Theme (B)

m. 16-24 2nd Theme (A)

m. 24-31 2nd Theme (B)

m. 32-38 Closing theme (A)

m. 39-46 Closing theme (B)

A. Recapitulation

m. 47-60 Primary Theme (A)

m. 61-69 Primary Theme (B)

m. 69-76 Primary Theme (B) + transition

m. 77-84 2nd theme (A)

m. 85-92 2nd theme (B) – tonality shifts up a 4th

m. 93-99 Closing theme A

m. 100-110 Closing Theme B (EbM)

III. Menuetto en Canone

A. Minuet (c m) (3/4)

m. 1-16 Primary Theme

m. 17-48 2nd Theme

A. Trio (C M)

m. 1.14

m. 15-32

IV. Allegro

m. 1-8 Primary Theme A (c m) (2/4)

m. 9-16 Primary Theme B

m. 17-24 1st Variation A

m. 25-32 1st Variation B

m. 33-40 2nd Variation A

m. 41-48 2nd Variation B

m. 49-56 3rd Variation A

m. 57-64	3rd Variation	B

m. 65-72	4th Variation	A

m. 73-80	4th Variation	B

m. 80-88	5th Variation	A

m. 89-96	5th Variation B

m. 97-112 6th Variation

m. 113-136 7th Variation

m. 137-144	Transition

m. 145-175	Primary Theme A

m. 176-215	Closing/8th Variation

m. 216-end	Coda (Transition to C Major)

Sonata Form
K. 388 utilizes the most complex sonata form in Mozart's wind music. The first movement, which is a very early example of the traditional sonata form, has complex melodies which utilizes plenty of descending chromaticism and descending leaps. The opening theme is constructed of three parts and relies heavily on triadic movement and suspensions. The secondary theme is very step-based and is based on an antecedent-consequent relationship. The closing themes, which transition to the development in Eb major, emulate the descending motion of the opening theme.

The development section only utilizes the opening theme and is somewhat brief. The most defining element of the development are the two sequences used based on the opening theme. The second sequence, which uses the entire ensemble, ends in a measure of rest before the piece returns to the recapitulation.

The recapitulation focuses on the opening theme and utilizes it as an almost direct copy of the earlier statement. The secondary theme is altered somewhat in order to ground the end of the piece in C minor. The secondary theme has the same overall construction (antecedent-consequent), though the transitions do not modulate and accompaniments different. The closing themes are also mostly the same, though they do temporarily modulate to C major before returning to C minor.

Performances
Performance of K. 388 by Bienen School of Music Octet

Chicago Chamber Musicians performances with notes