b'Program NotesWolfgang Amadeus MozartEine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525I. Allegro Mozarts Serenade in G Major, written in 1787 (just four years before Mozarts premature death), is better known as Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Mozarts own brief description of this serenade in his catalogue of works; kleine not because it was little, but rather because it was short (most serenades include seven or eight movements). Vienna was famous for its outdoor night music, as described in the following account of 1793: During the summer months, if the weather is fine, one comes across serenades performed in the streets almost daily and at all hours, sometimes at one oclock and even later. It is just these nocturnal concerts that show very clearly the universality and greatness of the love of music, since, no matter how late at night they take placeat hours when, usually, everyone is hurrying homeone nevertheless soon discovers people at their open windows, and within a few minutes the musicians are surrounded by an applauding crowd of listeners who rarely depart until the serenade has come to an endMost of the Viennese serenades would probably have been played by so-called Harmoniemusik, ensembles of wind players, whose instruments were arguably better suited to outdoor performance than string instruments. This serenade, scored only for strings, is therefore rather exceptional. Nothing is known about the circumstances of its composition or performance, but perhaps it was meant for an indoor gathering, possibly written on commission. It was to be Mozarts last serenade, and remains one of his most familiar and beloved works, full of elegance, wit, and charm. Sadly it was never published in his lifetime, and it was left up to his widow, Constanze, to sell it in a job lot of his music to a publisher in 1799, presumably to raise much needed cash. It saw public light of day only in 1827, some forty years after it was written.~Tafelmusik and ClassicFM buskaid.org.za/ 15'