Mozart: Gran Partita

In 1981, Frans Brüggen and friends founded the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, now featuring fifty-five musicians from more than twenty different countries. In this concert, a reduced ensemble plays Mozart's Serenade Op. 10 K.361 "Gran Partita" in its original version for twelve wind instruments and a double bass. The musicians are specialists in eighteenth century music and they play the Serenade on period instruments: the musical mood of the time when Mozart wrote it in 1781 or 1782 is here recreated.

This piece is famous for its perfect harmony and soft melodic line. In Miloš Forman film Amadeus, the composer Salieri first meets Mozart at a performance of this Serenade. Salieri is able to read the music from the score of the third movement and hears its heavenly sound, which will trigger his destructive jealousy.