Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

One of the most popular works of all classical music and featured in the film Amadeus, Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik(A Little Night Music) is shrouded in mystery since we have no idea as to why or for whom it was composed. Written for strings alone, it is a beautifully proportioned work, classical in form but with romantic overtones, especially in the brooding minor key middle section of the Romance. After Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Mozart’s most familiar serenade is the Serenata notturna, in reality a concerto grosso, for a group of solo strings and full string orchestra with a delightful part for drums. Composed for the Countess Antonia Lodron, a leading patroness of music in Salzburg, the Divertimento K. 247is yet another ‘occasional’ piece whose inventiveness and beauty transcend the social function for which it was intended.