Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra) (World Premiere Recording) Gewandhausorchester & Herbert Blomstedt

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra):
• 1 Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra): I. Marche (World Premiere Recording) 02:36
• 2 Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra): II. Allegro (World Premiere Recording) 02:30
• 3 Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra): III. Menuet [I] – Trio (World Premiere Recording) 02:25
• 4 Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra): IV. Polonoise "Boloneso" (World Premiere Recording) 01:11
• 5 Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra): V. Adagio (World Premiere Recording) 02:25
• 6 Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra): VI. Menuet [II] – Trio (World Premiere Recording) 02:31
• 7 Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra): VII. Finale. Allegro (World Premiere Recording) 00:43
• 8 Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra): I. Marche (Reprise) (World Premiere Recording) 02:39
• Total Runtime 17:00

Info for Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for Orchestra) (World Premiere Recording)

Referred to as “A Very Little Night Music”, the Serenade in C K 648 for string trio, is a previously unknown piece of music that was discovered by researchers of the International Mozarteum Foundation in the Carl Ferdinand Becker collection of the Municipal Music Library in Leipzig, Germany, while compiling the latest edition of the Köchel catalogue, the authoritative survey of Mozart’s oeuvre. Composed by Mozart for his sister, Maria Anna (Nannerl to friends and family), when he was in his early teens, the piece dates back to the mid to late 1760s and consists of seven miniature movements for two violins and bass. It was introduced to the public on 19 September 2024 by the International Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg which oversaw the research and authentification under the direction of Dr. Ulrich Leisinger.

How quickly the adoption and evolution of Mozart’s early work has progressed, is exemplified by a recording in the city of Leipzig where the manuscript of A Very Little Night Music was rediscovered. When an unprecedented wave of public interest way beyond Leipzig and Salzburg ensued, the renowned Gewandhausorchester Leipzig decided at short notice to devote a portion of their already scheduled sessions with their former music director and honorary conductor Herbert Blomstedt to recording the Serenade in C. The orchestra version mirrors the evolution of Mozart’s famous Serenade in G “A Little Night Music” (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik) which was originally conceived for chamber ensemble as well, but is today even more commonly known in a string orchestra version.

Gewandhausorchester
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor

Herbert Blomstedt
Noble, charming, sober, modest. Such qualities may play a major role in human coexistence and are certainly appreciated. However, they are rather atypical for extraordinary personalities such as conductors. Whatever the general public’s notion of a conductor may be, Herbert Blomstedt is an exception, precisely because he possesses those very qualities which seemingly have so little to do with a conductor's claim to power. That he disproves the usual clichés in many respects should certainly not lead to the assumption that he does not have the power to assert his clearly defined musical goals. Anyone who has attended Herbert Blomstedt’s rehearsals and experienced his concentration on the essence of the music, the precision in the phrasing of musical facts and circumstances as they appear in the score, the tenacity regarding the implementation of an aesthetic view, is likely to have been amazed at how few despotic measures were required to this end. Basically, Herbert Blomstedt has always represented that type of artist whose professional competence and natural authority make all external emphasis superfluous. His work as a conductor is inseparably linked to his religious and human ethos, and his interpretations combine great faithfulness to the score and analytical precision, with a soulfulness that awakens the music to pulsating life. In the more than sixty years of his career, he has acquired the unrestricted respect of the musical world.

Born in the USA to Swedish parents and educated in Uppsala, New York, Darmstadt and Basel, Herbert Blomstedt gave his conducting debut in 1954 with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and subsequently served as Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, the Swedish and Danish Radio Orchestras and the Staatskapelle Dresden. Later, he became Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, Chief Conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig. His former orchestras in San Francisco, Leipzig, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Dresden as well as the Bamberg Symphony and the NHK Symphony Orchestra all honoured him with the title of Conductor Laureate. Since 2019, he is a Honorary Member of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Herbert Blomstedt holds several Honorary Doctorates, is an elected member of the Royal Swedish Music Academy and was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit. Over the years, all leading orchestras around the globe have been fortunate to secure the services of the highly respected Swedish conductor. Celebrating his 95th birthday in July 2022, he continues to be at the helm of all leading international orchestras with enormous mental and physical presence, verve and artistic drive.

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