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Gallimathias musicum

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Gallimathias musicum (also spelled Galimathias musicum) in D major, K. 32, is a quodlibet composed in March 1766 by the ten-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during his grand tour of Europe. It was first performed at The Hague on 11 March 1766. A typical performance of this piece lasts twenty minutes.

Instrumentation and structure

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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, and consists of seventeen movements:

  1. Molto allegro
  2. Andante in D minor
  3. Allegro
  4. Pastorella in G major
  5. Allegro
  6. Allegretto in A major
  7. Allegro
  8. Molto adagio in G major
  9. Allegro in C major
  10. Largo in D minor
  11. Allegro
  12. Andante in F major
  13. Allegro in E-flat major (harpsichord solo)
  14. Menuet in F major
  15. Adagio in D minor
  16. Presto
  17. Fugue in F major

A galimatias is a term for nonsense, gobbledygook, a hodgepdge. Not all instruments feature in every movement. No. 8 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.], but no singing voice is specified.

References

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