His Toy Symphony of around 1760, however, hints at a fun-loving side. Leopold Mozart: Toy Symphony History popularly depicts Leopold Mozart, father of Wolfgang Amadeus, as something of a po-faced old moose, obsessed by eking every last drop out of his son’s prodigious talent. Remarkably, Albrechtsberger wrote not just the one but seven such concertos.ģ. The overall effect? Think of a contented frog leaping from lily to lily, accompanied by a string orchestra. In the hands of an able player, it can just about be made to produce something vaguely resembling a melody, but no amount of skill, alas, can give it a sound other than ‘boinnnnggggg’. It’s a jew’s harp: basically, a metal spring that one places in front of the mouth and twangs. But then comes the entry of the other solo instrument. Johann Georg Albrechtsberger: Concerto for Jews Harp Nothing much to remark at first about the 1765 Concerto in F major by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, esteemed Viennese composer, scholar and teacher of Beethoven – a pleasant, if unexceptional orchestral opening is adorned with gentle pluckings on the mandora (a type of lute). It’s an entertaining listen, though quite what Biber’s own audiences would have made of it is anyone’s guess.Ģ. For instance, the section called ‘Die liederliche Gesellschaft von allerley Humor’ has the orchestra playing in eight different keys simultaneously to depict drunkenness, while ‘Mars’ sees the double bass stick a piece of paper beneath the strings to create a rasping sound. Depicting life in an army camp, effects galore are employed by the composer to paint the musical picture just as he wanted it. Usually a composer of utmost craft and refinement, Biber went off on something of a tangent with his 1673 Battalia for string orchestra. Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber: Battalia We begin our survey of all things eccentric in the Baroque period. Advertisement What are the strangest pieces of classical music?ġ.
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