The Serenade for Orchestra No. 9 in D major, K. 320, Posthorn, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Salzburg, in 1779. The manuscript is dated 3 August 1779 and was intended for the University of Salzburg's "" ceremony that year.Sadie, Stanley. Mozart: The Early Years, 1756–1781, pp. 503–505, New York: W.W. Norton & Co. (2006) .
The serenade is scored for two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, post horn, timpani and strings. This scoring is unusually large for a work of this type. Normally, the same players would play oboe and flute, but in this case they appear simultaneously. The timpani, also, were not usually part of the serenade orchestra.
It has seven movements:
The Concertante and Rondeau movements feature prominent concertante sections for flutes, oboes, and bassoons. These were performed on their own in a concert in the old Vienna Burgtheater on 23 March 1783, along with the Haffner symphony, an aria from Idomeneo, and several other works."Mozart's concert at the Burgtheater, Vienna: 23 March 1783", Mozart & Material Culture
The first trio of the second minuet features a solo piccolo (called "flautino" in the manuscript) played over strings. The second trio of the second minuet features a solo for the post horn. This solo gives the serenade its nickname.
A typical performance lasts approximately 45 minutes and is often performed together with the two marches in D major, K. 335, preceding and following respectively.
Discography Below is an incomplete list of recordings. YearConductorOrchestraLabelHas two marches1983James LevineVienna PhilharmonicDeutsche GrammophonNo1984Nikolaus HarnoncourtStaatskapelle DresdenTeldecYes1985Charles MackerrasPrague Chamber OrchestraTelarcNo1985Neville MarrinerAcademy of St. Martin in the FieldsPhilips ClassicsYes1987János RollaFranz Liszt Chamber OrchestraHungarotonYes1990Martin TurnovskýCapella IstropolitanaNaxosNo1994Colin DavisBavarian Radio Symphony OrchestraBMG MusicNo1996Wolfgang GröhsEuropa SymphonyArte Nova ClassicsNo1996Christopher HogwoodAcademy of Ancient MusicÉditions de l'Oiseau-LyreYes2014Nikolaus HarnoncourtConcentus Musicus WienSony ClassicalYes (No. 1 only)2024Vahan MardirossianCzech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra Brilliant ClassicsNo2025Reinhard GoebelMozarteum Orchestra SalzburgBerlin ClassicsYes
Notes
External links
, , Colin Davis, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra