Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

In Mozart's day, popular airs from operas were frequently taken as the theme on which sets of variations were composed. The present set is such as example the theme being taken from Gluck's French comic opera La Rencontre imprévue, first performed in Paris in 1764. During the 1770s, the opera became highly successful in a German version under the title Die Pilgrime von Mekka. Mozart first played the variations at his concert at the Burgtheater on March 23, 1783. In a letter to his father Leopold dated six days later, Mozart lists the entire program, which included the "Haffner" Symphony and two piano concertos (K. 175 in D and K. 415 in C). One of the highlights of Mozart's concerts were his solo improvisations, for which he was especially renowned. At this concert, he tells Leopold, "I played ... variations on an air from an opera called Die Philosophen Paisiello (1781). Six Variations in F on "Salve tu, Domine," K. 398], which were encored. So I played variations on the air "Unser dummer Pöbel meint" from Pilgrimme von Mekka (sic)." It seems probable that Gluck, who had entertained Mozart and his wife Costanze only the previous weekend, attended the concert. Mozart therefore doubtless extemporized his set of variations as a thanks to his famous colleague. Whether or not Mozart put the variations on paper at the time is not known, but nearly eighteen months later (August 25, 1784) he entered them in his recently commenced thematic catalog, suggesting that he had continued to employ them in his concerts. The theme itself is a simple tune marked Allegretto, but several of the variations are demanding, with a cadenza included in the last. In keeping with usual practice, the penultimate variation is in the minor mode. The set was published by Torricalla of Vienna in 1785, later also being issued by Mozart's favored Viennese publisher, Artaria.