Eine kleine Nachtmusik

Background

The serenade was completed in Vienna on 10 August 1787, around the time when Mozart was working on the second act of his opera Don Giovanni. It is not known why he composed it, nor is it known whether it was performed in his lifetime. Wolfgang Hildesheimer, noting that most of Mozart's serenades were written on commission, suggests that this was a commission whose origin and first performance were not recorded.

catalogueThe traditionally used name of the work comes from the entry Mozart made for it in his personal catalogue, which begins Eine kleine Nacht-Musick. Zaslaw and Cowdery point out that Mozart was probably not giving the piece a special title but only entering in his records that he had completed a little serenade.

The work was not published until about 1827, long after Mozart's death, by Johann André in Offenbach am Main. Mozart's widow Constanze sold it to the publisher as part of a large bundle of her husband's compositions.

Music

The serenade is written for an ensemble of two violins, viola, cello, and double bass, but it is often performed by string orchestras.

The work has four movements: | Allegro (G major) | Romance: Andante (C major) | Menuetto: Allegretto (G major, with trio in D major) | Finale: Rondo Allegro (G major)

I. Allegro

This first movement is in sonata-allegro form. It opens with a theme of an ascending Mannheim rocket. The second theme is more graceful and in D major, the dominant key of G major. The exposition closes in D major and is repeated. The development section begins in D major and touches on D minor and C major before the work returns to G major for the recapitulation. \layout { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t line-width = 12\cm } \relative c''' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"string ensemble 1" \tempo 4 = 148 \key g \major \time 4/4 g4^"First theme" r8 d8 g4 r8 d8 | g8 d g b d4 r4 | c4 r8 a8 c4 r8 a8 | c8 a fis a d,4 r4 | } \layout { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t line-width = 14\cm } \relative c''' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"string ensemble 1" \tempo 4 = 148 \key g \major \time 4/4 \override Score.BarNumber.break-visibility = ##(#f #f #t) \set Score.currentBarNumber = #28 \bar "" a4.^"Second theme" (\tuplet 3/2 { g16 fis e } d8) r b' r | g r e r a r r4 | fis4. (\tuplet 3/2 { e16 d cis } b8) r g' r | fis2 (e4) }

II. Romance: Andante

The second movement, with the tempo marked Andante, is a Romance in C major, the subdominant key of G major, and was originally the third movement out of five. It is in rondo form, taking the shape A–B–A–C–A plus a final coda. The keys of the sections are C major for A and B, C minor for C. The middle appearance of A is truncated, consisting of only the first half of the theme. Daniel Heartz describes the movement as evoking a gavotte rhythm: each of its sections begins in the middle of the measure, with a double upbeat. \layout { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t } \relative c'' { \key c \major \time 2/2 \set Staff.midiInstrument = "string ensemble 1" \tempo 4 = 72 \partial 2 e8\p r8 e8 r8 | e4. (g8) f8 (d8 f8 a8) | g8. [(e16)] g8 r8 c8-. c4 (b8) | a8-. a4 (g8) g8 (f16) r16 f8 (e16) r16 | g8. (e16) d8 }

III. Menuetto: Allegretto

The third movement, marked Allegretto, is a minuet and trio, both in time. The minuet is in the home key of G major; the contrasting trio is in D major, the dominant key of G major. As is normal in this form, the minuet is played again da capo following the trio. \layout { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t } \relative c'' { \key g \major \time 3/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = "string ensemble 1" \tempo "Menuetto" \tempo 4=120 \partial 4 d4-.\f | g4-. a4-. b4-. | c2 a4 | b4 g4 a4 | \grace g8 (fis4) e8 d e fis | } \layout { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t } \relative c'' { \key d \major \time 3/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = "string ensemble 1" \tempo "Trio" \tempo 4=120 \partial 4 fis8_"sotto voce" (g8 | a2) b8 (cis8 | d4. cis8 b8 a8) | g8 (fis8 g8 a8 ais8 b8) | e,4. }

IV. Rondo: Allegro

The fourth and last movement is in lively tempo, marked Allegro; the key is again G major, and the movement is written in sonata rondo form. Mozart specifies repeats not just for the exposition section but also for the following development and recapitulation sections. The recapitulation's first theme is unusual because only its last two bars return, in the parallel minor. A coda ends the piece. \layout { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t } \relative c'' { \key g \major \time 2/4 \partial 2 \set Staff.midiInstrument = "string ensemble 1" \tempo 2=108 r8 d-. g-.b-. | d4 d d d | fis, fis g g(\turn | c) c b b | a }

Possible extra movement

In the catalogue entry mentioned above, Mozart listed the work as having five movements ("Allegro – Minuet and Trio – Romance – Minuet and Trio – Finale."). The second movement in his listing — a minuet and trio — was long thought lost, and musicologist Alfred Einstein does not not know who removed it. K. 498a, which is credited to the composer August Eberhard Müller, incorporates significant amounts of Mozart's work in the form of reworkings of material from the piano concertos K. 450, K. 456, and K. 595, leading Einstein to suggest that the minuet in Müller's sonata might be an arrangement of the missing movement from Eine kleine Nachtmusik, however, the evidence for this is limited.

In 1971, this movement was incorporated into a recording of the work prepared by the musicologist and performer Thurston Dart. In 1989, the minuet and trio of K. 498a was again recorded as part of an arrangement of Eine kleine Nachtmusik made by Jonathan Del Mar for Nimbus Records.

Modern reception

Today, the serenade is widely performed and recorded. Hildesheimer suggests that it is the most popular of all Mozart's works, writing: "even if we hear it on every street corner, its high quality is undisputed, an occasional piece from a light but happy pen." This piece has been featured in studies about the impact of music on fish and humans. Britannica has referred to it as "among the most frequently performed and iconic of all classical compositions."

References

1. In his 1984 recording, [[Christopher Hogwood]] used a minuet of [[Thomas Attwood (composer). Thomas Attwood]] (found in his sketchbooks used while he took lessons from Mozart) and an additional newly composed trio to substitute the missing movement.{{citation needed. (December 2025 Einstein suggested, however, that a minuet in the [[Piano Sonata in B-flat major, K. 498a). Piano Sonata in B{{music. Einstein. 1962