WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)
Adagio and fugue for strings in C minor KV546
1. Adagio
2. Fugue
Performed by the English Concert
Featuring special guest director Andrew Manze
*The adagio & fugue in C Minor is arguably Mozart's most serious, intense and private instrumental work. The fugue started life in a version for two pianos and was written in Vienna in 1783 during a period when Mozart and his friends spent Sunday afternoons with his patron Baron Gottfried van Swieten. There they immersed themselves in the unfashionable practice of playing fugues, particularily fugues by Handel and J.S. Bach. In 1788 he returned to the C minor fugue, orchestrated it for strings and added the Adagio.
