Gallimathias musicum

Gallimathias musicum
Quodlibet by W. A. Mozart
Carmontelle's 1763–64 Mozart family portrait
Other nameGalimathias musicum
CatalogueK. 32
LanguageGerman (8th movement only)
ComposedMarch 1766
DedicationWilliam V, Prince of Orange
Durationc. 16–20 minutes
Movements17
ScoringOrchestra with continuo
Premiere
Date11 March 1766
LocationThe Hague
ConductorWolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Gallimathias musicum, (also spelled Galimathias musicum) K. 32, is a quodlibet[1] composed in March 1766 by the ten-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during his grand tour of Europe for festivities celebrating the installation of William V, Prince of Orange.[2] It was first performed at The Hague on 11 March 1766. It was also performed on the family's journey back to Salzburg during a 12-day stopover in October 1766 in Donaueschingen.[3] A typical performance of this piece lasts between 16 and 20 minutes.

Instrumentation and structure

The work is scored for two oboes, two horns in D (and C and F), bassoon, mainly colla parte with double bass, harpsichord and strings. It consists of seventeen movements, with several lasting less than one minute:

  1. Molto allegro in D major (13 bars)
  2. Andante in D minor (18 bars)
  3. Allegro in D major (16 bars)
  4. Pastorella in G major (38 bars)
  5. Allegro in D major (27 bars, attacca to VI)
  6. Allegretto in A major (44 bars)
  7. Allegro in D major (36 bars)
  8. Molto adagio in G major "Eitelkeit!" (8 bars)
  9. Allegro in C major (20 bars)
  10. Largo in D minor (13 bars, attacca to XI)
  11. Allegro in D major (12 bars)
  12. Andante in F major (18 bars)
  13. Allegro in E♭ major (harpsichord solo, 28 bars))
  14. Menuet in F major (16 bars)
  15. Adagio in D minor (21 bars)
  16. Presto in D major (16 bars)
  17. Fugue in F major (138 bars, no repeats)

A galimatias is a term for nonsense, gobbledygook, a hodgepodge. Not all instruments feature in every movement. No. 8, molto adagio, contains the lyrics, Eitelkeit! Eitelkeit! Ewig's Verderben! Wenn all's versoffen ist, gibts nichts zu erben. [Vanity! Vanity! Eternal ruin! When everything is boozed away, no inheritance is left.], for voices colla parte with violin I, violin II, viola, and bass.

The fugue, No. 17, is based on Mozart's iteration of Wilhelmus, a Dutch patriotic song that would later become the Netherlands' national anthem, as heard as the theme in his set of seven variations on it, K. 25 (March 1766).[4]

Discography

Below is an incomplete list of recordings:

Year Conductor Orchestra Singers Label Format
1987 János Rolla Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra - Hungaroton One track per movement
1990 - Orpheus Chamber Orchestra - Deutsche Grammophon Single uninterrupted track
1990 Neville Marriner Academy of St Martin in the Fields Ambrosian Singers Philips Classics Divided into tracks consisting of several movements
1998 Gunar Letzbor Ars Antiqua Austria St. Florian Boys' Choir Chesky Records One track per movement
2024 Vahan Mardirossian Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra - Brilliant Classics One track per movement

References

  1. ↑ Maria Rika Maniates; Peter Branscombe; Richard Freedman (2001). "Quodlibet (Lat.: 'what you please')". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.22748. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription, Wikilibrary access, or UK public library membership required)
  2. ↑ "Gallimathias musicum (quodlibet) (K.32)". The Mozart Portal. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  3. ↑ Stanley Sadie (2007). Mozart – The Early Years 1756–1781. Oxford University Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-19-816529-3.
  4. ↑ Sieben Variationen in D, KV 25: Score in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
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