Leopold Mozart (1719-1787) Toy Symphony : CLIP HD by CMRR (Made for Kids & Babies) .
I. Allegro (00:00)
II. Menuetto (04:21)
III. Finale: Presto (07:53)
Children’s ensemble of the Moscow Music School
Conductor : Igor Markevitch
Recorded in 1964
Find CMRR’s recordings on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3016eVr
This short symphony in three small movements circulated under the name of Joseph Haydn for decades simply because the first edition attributed it to him.
It is a charming work that delights children with its sound effects. A composition in which you will hear, by lending an ear, the chirping of birds, the song of the cuckoo or the nightingale! Leopold Mozart was also accustomed to the fact that many of his works include concrete musical illustrations joining the orchestra: bells, horse neighing in the Sleigh Ride, an important suite in several movements, where in one of them, violinistic shivers simulate chills due to the cold. In the Peasant Wedding, we hear cries from the guests, from the hurdy-gurdy in a minuet. In the Sinfonia de Caccia, dog barking and gun shots join the horns. Not to mention the pastoral sinfonia for alphorn, the military divertimento…
The Symphony of Toys is written for 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings and basso continuo, plus the “childish” instruments: rattle, small trumpet, drum, and several small flutes imitating the cuckoo or the nightingale. As performed under the name Symphonie des Jouets, it has 3 movements: a very joyful allegro, a menuetto which includes a trio where the callers (an instrument used in hunting to produce a particular sound or noise attracting birds or game) give themselves to heart’s content, and a final Presto with a single theme repeated three times whose rhythm is in continuous acceleration.
Following the last serious research on this subject, the score could now be attributed to the Benedictine monk Edmund Angerer (1740-1794). We preferred to publish it under the name Leopold Mozart because it is on this name that it is best known.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart PLAYLIST (reference recordings) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3UZpQL9LIxMe6H3Sfn2lvPVFzrvhhPO7