cadenza in the musical joke

[pianonut]

i read somewhere that the cadenza for violin in 'the musical joke' is the only surviving violin cadenza by mozart.  it is an example of how mozart said a cadenza should not be written.  where can i find this cadenza?

[pianonut]

ok. for all of you who always wanted to know more about the musical joke...it all started with a bird.  a starling!  mozart actually bought one.  unfortunately it died.  but, not before being named 'fool' by mozart.  it brought mozart much pleasure and kept him company in the long nights that he spend composing.  for more:
www.starlingtalk.com/mozart3.htm

K522 A Musical Joke: "In the first movement we hear the awkward, unproportioned, and illogical piecing together of ininspired material...[later] the andante cantabile contains a grotesque cadenza which goes on far too long and pretentiously and ends with a comical deep pizzicato note."  it was written 6-12-1787

[pianonut]

one last note...did you know that starlings can sing two notes at the same time, thus their melodies intertwine with each other.  this was facinating to mozart, and he used the idea with the two note start in the musical joke.  i listened to some of the beginning movement and everything starts and ends together.  i suppose bad composition means you can't understand counterpoint, texture, or the idea that different instruments have to be written for their repective keys.  (i think mozart has them all in the same key - but it works out to all be in the key of eb major)

[gkatele]

Continuing the story of Mozart's bird:

Seems that he had scheduled a lesson with a student and he had to cancel it when his bird died.

The letter went something like this:

"Dear Suzie,

It is with deepest regret that I must cancel our lesson. I hope that you will continue working on the pieces we discussed, and I hope that you will make significant progress by the time we meet again. The reason for my cancelling your lesson is that my dear bird has died. She was the light of my life. She inspired me and gave me joy. It was a delight to wake in the morning and hear her chirping away to greet the sun...

(several more paragraphs of talking about his dead bird)

.... So I hope that you understand.

I look forward to our next meeting.

Sincerely,

Wolfgang Mozart

PS: I also heard that my father has died.'



Tells you something about the relationship between Wolfgang and Leopold, eh?

[pianonut]

yes, pets are truly faithful to the end.  that was an interesting letter with leopold's death at the bottom.  mozart was a character!  i do think he loved his father very much, just that leopold wasn't too nice when it came to his marrying constanze (and other things, too).  i suppose that a parent has to learn to let go and let children make their own decisions (and deal with the consequences).  i don't think constanze was bad for mozart.  in more reading on her, she was quite thrifty as a widow (even tho remarried) and helped promote mozarts works, put them in the right hands, etc.

some days you just need a pet, no matter what.  the purr of my cat (she snores at night) sleeping at my feet makes for a certain peace in the house.  i had a canary when i was 8 or 9 and it sang everytime the phone rang.  my mother would tell me to put a cover on it when she wanted to talk.