Mozart: "A Musical Joke" (Score)

This is Mozart’s Ein musikalischer Spaß (A Musical Joke) in F Major

Performed by: Mitglieder des Sinfonie-Orchesters des NDR Hambur

I. Allegro: 0:00
II. Menuetto and trio: 3:27
III. Adagio Cantabile: 8:07
IV. Presto: 13:51

A Musical Joke, Ein musikalischer Spaß, is a piece written by Mozart. The composer entered it in his Verzeichnis aller meiner Werke (Catalogue of All My Works) on June 14, 1787. Commentators have opined that the piece's purpose is satirical – that "[its] harmonic and rhythmic gaffes serve to parody the work of incompetent composers”– though Mozart himself is not known to have revealed his actual intentions. The title A Musical Joke might be a poor rendering of the German original: Spaß does not necessarily connote the jocular, for which the word Scherz would more likely be used. In Fritz Spiegl's view, a more accurate translation would be Some Musical Fun. I hope you enjoy!

The score in this video is in the public domain, and was downloaded from imslp.org

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