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  • Classical Musical Period Introduction
• 1
  • Classical Musical Period Overview
• 2
  • Classical Musical Style Characteristics
• 3
  • Piece: Ave Verum Corpus
• 4
  • Piece: "Adagio" from Violin Concerto No. 3
• 5
  • Piece: "Andante" from String Quartet No. 13
• 6
  • Piece: "Andante" from the Emperor Quartet
• 7
  • Piece: Surprise Symphony No. 94
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  • Piece: Pastoral Symphony No. 6
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  • References
• MUSIC
  • Viola sheet music

PIECE: "ADAGIO" FROM VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 3

SECTION 3.4

"Adagio" from Violin Concerto No. 3

Fig. 3.3 City of Salzburg

Mozart composed his Violin Concerto No. 3, K. 216 in 1775, when he was only 19 years old and was residing in Salzburg, Austria. Mozart sometimes referred to this concerto as the Strassburg Concerto, because he used part of a dance tune from the city of Strassburg in the final, third movement of this concerto (the tune was apparently known as the "The Strassburger"). Violin Concerto No. 3 is an example of Mozart’s mastery of the Classical period form of concerto. This concerto is in a three movement structure with the following standard concerto form:

1. A fast first movement in sonata-allegro form (sonata-allegro form consists of an exposition of the theme, development of the theme, and ends with the recapitulation or return of the theme).
2. A slow second movement in ternary form (A-B-A).
3. A fast third movement in a rondo form.

TECHNIQUE TIPS: This arrangement of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 is taken from the second, slow movement of the concerto, and is titled "Adagio," indicating a slow, leisurely tempo should be used. This piece features a serene, scalar melody (scalar means to move in the manner of a scale). Noted Mozart scholar Alfred Einstein described this movement as: "an Adagio that seems to have fallen straight from heaven." [2] Use smooth, seamless bows to play the flowing, lyrical melody of this exquisite piece. Bowing techniques and musical elements used to ornament and enhance the beauty of the melody include slurs, triplets, accidentals, trills and dynamic contrast.