Can music be funny?
Mozart tried in 1787, in perhaps a more satirical way than rib-tickling laughter – perhaps ‘musical fun’ is a better translation of the original title Ein musikalischer Spaß.
The work is one of Mozart’s Divertimenti, and this is for two horns and string quartet, in four movements – an Allegro in sonata form, a minuet and trio, an Adagio cantabile, and a Sonata-Rondo form Presto.
The ‘jokes’ include:
- Discords in horns
- Parallel 5ths (shock horror)
- Whole tone scales
- Bad orchestration
- Wrong keys
- An erroneous attempt at fugue.
Perhaps more humorous in live performance than in recording, but still:
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