Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds (Mozart)

The Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds in E flat major is a work thought to be by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and orchestra, K. 297b (Anh. C 14.01). He originally wrote a work for flute, oboe, horn, bassoon, and orchestra, K. Anh. 9 (297B), in Paris in April 1778. There is considerable dispute about the relation of the work as it is performed today to this original work.

The Sinfonia Concertante is scored for solo oboe, solo clarinet, solo horn, solo bassoon, and an orchestra of two horns, two oboes, and strings. A typical performance lasts about 28 minutes.

Mozart is known through letters and concert announcements to have written a sinfonia concertante for flute, oboe, horn, and bassoon, the original score of which is lost. There is considerable debate about the authenticity of what is performed today, and whether the extant piece is even related to the original work. Various scholars have conflicting opinions, and some say the composition is currently in a corrupt form. Stanley Sadie, for instance, is dismissive.Alfred Einstein considered it genuine. Some have the opinion that it is inconceivable that Mozart wrote a homotonal concerto (i.e. with all three movements in the same key; here E-flat major). The Mozart Project considers this piece as "spurious or doubtful", and it does not appear on the project's listing of concertos.

Mozart displayed affection and prominence for the wind instruments in his operas and concertos. Noteworthy wind passages are in the fifteenth and seventeenth piano concertos, with memorable dialogues with the soloist; flute, oboe and bassoon. In opera there are many arias with similar woodwind and French Horn passages, such as Fiordiligi's "Per pietà, ben mio, perdona" from Così fan tutte. Some authorities believe that these outstanding qualities are also displayed in this piece.

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