Mozart and dance

The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a great deal of dance music, both for public use and as elements of larger works such as operas, quartets, and symphonies. According to the reminiscences of those who knew him, the composer himself enjoyed dancing very much; he was skillful and danced often.

About 200 dances by Mozart are still preserved. The modern edition of the dances as published by the Neue Mozart Ausgabe (see External Links below) runs to about 300 total pages in score. For a complete listing of Mozart's dances, see this list.

Mozart began writing dances when he was five years old; see Nannerl Notenbuch. In 1768, when Mozart was 12, his father Leopold reported that Wolfgang had composed "many minuets for all types of instrument". Mozart continued to write dance music for various occasions during the Salzburg period of his life (up to 1781).

Following his move to Vienna, the pace of dance music composition increased, as on 7 December 1787 Mozart was appointed Royal and Imperial Chamber Composer for Emperor Joseph II. This post, though largely a sinecure, had as its main duty the composition of dances for the balls held in the Redoutensälen (public ballrooms) of the Imperial Palace. Mozart complied with this requirement scrupulously, composing dances in great number. He generally wrote dances each year between late December and early March; this reflected the scheduling of the imperial balls, which according to Abert were held "every Sunday during the carnival season, as well as on the last Thursday before Lent and on the last three days of the carnival." There are dances from 1788, 1789, and 1791; none date from 1790 because the Emperor was ill and died February 20 of that year.

Mozart's dances are primarily in three genres.

The minuet was slightly old-fashioned by Mozart's time. It was of aristocratic origin, elegant and stately. Mozart wrote his minuets in ternary form; that is, first the minuet proper, then a contrasting trio section, followed by a return of the minuet.

Mozart also wrote a great number of minuets intended for listening rather than dancing: they occur (usually as the third of four movements) in his symphonies, string quartets, and many other works. These minuets are usually longer, faster in tempo and less regular in their phrasing than the minuets meant for dancing.

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