Mozart: Divertimento in D Major K. 136 Voices of Music original version 8K video

The opening Allegro from the the Divertimento in D Major, performed on original instruments by the award-winning ensemble Voices of Music. K. 136 is one of three divertimenti that Mozart wrote in Salzburg in early 1772, when he was only sixteen years old. He was at home in Salzburg during this period, recovering for a few months between two lucrative tours to Italy that he undertook with his father, Leopold Mozart. While the genre of “divertimento” is flexible in terms of form, movement scheme, and instrumentation, these works are generally intended as lighthearted entertainment. Mozart’s 1772 divertimenti are more formally complex than many of their type, but their brevity and transparent textures reveal their purpose as elegant amusements. Here, we also see Mozart’s penchant for active inner voices in full bloom. While performing on the violin was perhaps more lucrative and marketable, Mozart famously preferred playing the viola, and this work offers particularly interesting and fulfilling writing for th