Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-29
NEWS OF MUSIC
By DAY THORPE

AS these words are read.
Mozart's 200th birthday is a
day or so gone. and. as they
are written. a day or so to
come. Year by year my head
becomes a more and more
capacious hellbox Of observa-
tons and reflections about the
man, and it may be an appro-
pirate time to see how the
dirty metal looks when spread
out on paper.
Mozart was the first and
virtually the only major COM
poser to compose specifically
for the photograph. The F
minor fantasy, which you can
hear this afternoon at the
Washington Cathedral played
by Paul Galloway in an organ
arrangement, is one of sew
eral pieces written during the
last weeks of MoZart's life for
q mechanical organ"-an en-
tirely misleading designation.
We would call the gadget to-
day a Swiss music box" such
as Is often concealed in the
bottoms of card trays or nut
bowls. but bigger.
A certain Count Deym was
fond Of the contraption, In
which pins on a revolving
cylinder struck tuned metal
prongs, and offered to paw
Mozart for writing some pieces
for 1t.
Mozart hated the Job. at
least Of composing the first
F minor fantasy, and could
force himself to work at 1t only
. few minutes a day. But he
needed the money, and turned
out three masterpieces-the
TWO fantasies. and the piece
known In arrangement to
pianists as a rondo in F.
It is incredible that the
music turned out to be SPEC
tacularly orchestral In color.
OF the greatest harmonic and
melodic scope, and of obvi-
ously profound emotional
depth. Yet 1t was written for
q box Of pins with q clock
spring for performer. Another
odd feature of the music,
which is spread out over three
or four slaves, is that as there
was only one metal prong
tuned to each note there are
few unisons.
Why Not Recreate Boxes
It would be an interesting
idea for the Hamilton Watch
Company or Patek-Phillipe to
recreate Mozart's music and
inStrum emit Simultaneous
ly. They could probably sell q
number Of the music boxes,
and they would certainly have
little trouble getting pictures
In the papers.
A curious feature Of the
beautiful horn concerto Gin E
nat, K AID to be played this
afternoon by the Abe Kniaz at
the Phillips Gallery is that the
main theme Of the larghetto
Gala breve) reappears in the
final allegro (six-eight). IN
like the reappearances In the
Beethoven ninth symphony or
sonata, Opus 101, the tune Is
reintroduced as an integral
part Of the music. This prac-
tice Is very common in later
music. starting perhaps with
Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy,
but I know of no earlier
example.
Earthly Words For Own Use
The ubiquitous and ap-
parently immortal texts found
on the walls Of lavatories were
favorites Of Mozart. Not only
did they add good humour to
his family letters, but he fire.
quently set them to music to be
sung by himself and friends in
convivial gatherings. In the
great complete edition Of his
works published In the 18th
scentury by Breitkopf and Har-
stel in Germany. these texts
were ignored and contem-
sporary romantic poems or
sacred verses substituted. Dis
Greet parentheses mark the
emendations. The third edi-
ton Of the Kochel cataloe.
published In 1896, is unexpur-
gated.
There is no really outstand-
ing biography of Mozart in
English, but the Kochel cata-
log. while neither a biography
nor In English. Is an indispen-
sible bedside companion to
anyone interested in Mozart.
A large volume of more than
q thousand pages, 1t is a
depository Of virtually all the
factual information about
Mozart and his music avail
able today
Initial themes. dates of COM
position, editions, references
to Mozart's own comments on
his music in his letters, DR..
Alfred Einstein's comments,
and exhaustive and fool-proof
cross-indices make Kochel no
less entertaining than neces-
sary. A new edition was
published in 1947 by j. w.
Edwards in Ann Arbor, Michi-
gan.
Finally, don't let ignorance
OF the German language cause
you qualms, for Kochel-G Ger
man is considerably easier to
pick up than Goethe or
Thomas Mann.
In addition to Kochel. the