#ClassicsaDay #Divertimento Week 1

The Classics a Day team decided to lighten up a little. Webster's Dictionary defines a divertimento as "an instrumental chamber work in several movements usually light in character." 

For October, the challenge is to post videos of divertimentos written by classical composers. 

Seems straightforward enough. However I quickly discovered that every composer had a different idea of what "light in character" meant. The only thing any of these selections have in common is the title: divertimento. Here are my selections for the first week of the #ClassicsaDay challenge, #Divertimento.

10/01/24 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento No. 1 in E-flat major, K. 113

Mozart's first divertimento was composed during his second visit to Italy in 1771. It was created for a subscription concert.

 

10/02/24 Franz Schubert: Divertimento all'ungherese op.54 D818

This Divertimento by Schubert is atypical of the genre. It only has three movements, instead of five or more. The first is extremely long, and the melodies are more involved than most divertimenti. But it's Schubert, so who's complaining?

 

10/03/24 Vincent Persichetti: Divertimento for Band, Op. 42

This work was supposed to be for orchestral. But as Persichetti describes it, at some point during the writing, he realized the strings were never going to enter. And at that point, it became officially a work for band.

 

10/04/24 Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel: Divertimento in B-Dur

Princess Anna Amalia was a patron of the arts. And she was also an accomplished composer. Her residence, Wittum Palace, was described as the "court of the muses."