Episode 9, 2020: Mozart’s Six German DancesWednesday 12 August 2020

This week we revisit Mozart’s first time in Prague in 1787 where he wrote the first of his ten sets of German Dances. But first, Phil Lambert (ANAM Music Librarian) clarifies that the music in the elegant ballroom scenes in film adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels where couples dance and change partners is not a German dance. On the contrary, in a German dance each dancer only has one partner – no sharing.

In this episode Phil and ANAM alumnus Nicholas Young (piano 2017) chat about how Mozart, who was known as a procrastinator, wrote this piece in a spur of the moment to celebrate his final few days in Prague during his first visit. Phil calls it a dance track; a musical composition to get up and dance to. Nicholas also shares how the piece’s lack of tempo markings gave him the freedom to experiment with it to bring delightful music to his audience.

The performance featured on this episode is from a 2017 ANAM Soundbite concert.