[Pt. IV – Proj.3] – Exercise – The Mannheim School

Exercise – The Mannheim School

In Appendix E, you’ll find the printed score of the first movement of Mozart’s Flute Concerto in G, written for Wendling in Mannheim in early 1778. Listen to the piece and try to follow the score as you listen.

Were you able to follow the score?

Did following the score enhance or detract from your enjoyment of the music?

Were you able to spot any of the characteristics of the Mannheim School described above in the score? Which ones?

Make a note of your observations and responses in your listening log. you haven’t had much practice at following a score, you may have found this exercise quite hard. For example, you may have only been able to follow the score in a very general sense – or perhaps you were only able to follow one or two parts. Provided that you’ve been able to respond to this exercise on some level, don’t worry – it will get easier.

Take any opportunity to practise. If you’re going to a concert, or listening to a concert on the radio, see if you can get a copy of the score from your local library or download one from the IMSLP library, and try to follow at least part of the performance. As you get more skilled at following the score, it will deepen your enjoyment of the music.

Another exercise I found very inspiring and instructive was the one about the Mannheim School. I had not realised how many orchestral techniques had originated and was propagated by this one place. So many crescendo types, the ‘Grand Pause’ and numerous other dynamic devices now used and taken for granted in both classical and popular music where invented there.

Trying to follow the score of Mozart’s  ‘Flute concerto in G’ was a real eye opener. I am new to sight-reading and therefore a slow reader, but I did find the musical experience enriched by following the score. I combined this with the annotation exercise in the music theory project to try and get a deeper understanding of the composition. This part of the course was very rewarding and also the source of some frustration. The most productive thing for me to do be would be to try and follow the score to all the listening examples and try to annotate and chord analyse them (to my current level of ability). This is very time consuming for me and therein lies my frustration- running out of time. It is what’s made ‘Part Four’ the most difficult module so far.