While Mozart was in Prague being feted after the triumph of his opera "Le Nozze di Figaro" (The Marriage of Figaro) there, he wrote in one of his letters that he was touched and gratified to hear the music from his opera whistled and hummed in the streets everywhere. Also, at every party and ball he attended, he heard arrangements of it for every conceivable combination of instruments, not only as party music, but often re-arranged as quadrilles and contredanses for people to dance to...and Mozart dearly loved dancing. This absolutely thrilled him, he considered it "truly a great honour," and though he turned down posts that were subsequently offered him in Prague, he never forgot the warm and gracious welcome he received there.
Here is my little
homage to Mozart after the same fashion - my arrangements for string sextet (two violins, two violas, two cellos) of two selections from the second act of his opera "Cosi Fan Tutte" (So Do They All), completed about 1990 when I was 28. These were to have been part of a larger set, but only these were fated to be completed. I'd like to hope that had he heard them at a party, they might have pleased him.
The first of the selections, "
Benedetti i doppi conjugi," is the spirited wedding march chorus. The second is the exquisitely charming serenade "
Secondate aurette amiche," in which the two protagonists in disguise, with the help of a chorus on a boat offshore echoing their sentiments, try to woo each other's girlfriends as part of a wager with a misogynistic friend who has bet them that their women will gladly capitulate. Only in a Mozart opera could something so absurd be so sublime.
I'm including the Finale 2005 file along with the MIDI so that those of you of the mind can see what's going on without having to drag the MIDI into a notation program. Besides, the playback is worlds better. I experimented with varying the articulation of similar material and patterns between sets of instruments, i.e. if the violins and violas were doubling each other at the octave, the violas might play detache while the violins are slurred, etc. I also experimented with slightly unconventional voicings here and there, and tried to give everyone something interesting to do at one time or another.
Arranging another composer's work can be an edifying and challenging experience, especially for an instrument or ensemble for which it was not originally intended. There is the desire to do the material justice while making a unique and fresh statement. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's something to learn from.