Two Arrangements from "Cosi Fan Tutte"

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.

Thank you, it was a pleasure to listen to.

I agree, it's an excellent arrangement for strings.

Hmm. As always, you prove that you're un compositeur qui sait immanquablement son métier. Nicely done.

Alas, I've never actually heard Cosi, so I can't properly identify where you stole from Mozart. Always so many other operas for me to get to first, and I prefer the serious kind (are you at all surprised my favourite Mozart is Idomeneo?). I did have an opportunity to buy a copy a month or so ago, but I had to choose between some version of Cosi and Tito Gobbi doing Verdi's Falstaff. No contest. Not even a fair fight. Giuseppe won hands down.

Oh yes, and your Finale file didn't want to work. Perhaps you've a newer edition than I do. I'll have to send our Princess to steal it from you...

Thanks, everybody. Glad you enjoyed them!

I can't properly identify where you stole from Mozart

I remained as close to what Mozart originally wrote as I possibly could, preferring to re-voice and rearrange his notes rather than throw in a bunch of my own. I did condense considerably in some places, and flesh out a bit in others. Benedetti is for chorus and full orchestra originally, complete with blaring trumpets, which I gave to the violas in octaves; Secondate is for the tenor and bass protagonists, with a semi-chorus and a small band of winds on a boat offshore in the Bay of Naples (what a charming scene, I must say again - a brief moment of sincerity in the sea of crass sarcasm the whole opera is...you almost believe the lovers in their wooing...almost).

Honestly, Milord, I urge you to move "Cosi Fan Tutte" closer to the top of your list (though I understand the Gobbi). It's absurd, surely, but not as mindless as it might at first appear. There is some very sharp social satire to be found in every moment of the work. It would be worth it to you in particular for the contributions of the misogynistic, worldly, caustically sardonic Don Alfonso alone (one of the first comic baritone roles in the repertoire...later almost the exclusive domain of Gilbert and Sullivan), to say nothing of the scheming little minx of a chambermaid Despina, who counters Don Alfonso with her own prejudices and bitchy observations about men and love. The four lovers themselves are pale and wan in comparison, but that is to be expected. To Mozart's credit, he doesn't give the "noble" characters all the good music, either.

Here is the text of one of Don Alfonso's ariettas, addressing the two male leads, who are quite certain that their girlfriends would be faithful to them to the death (apologies to the ladies):

E la fede delle femmine
Come l'araba fenice;
Che vi sia ciascun lo dice,
Dove sia, nessun lo sa.
Non e questa, non e quella
Non fu mai, non vi sara!

(The faithfulness of women
Is like the Arabian phoenix;
Everyone says it exists,
But no-one knows where.
It's not this one, it's not that one,
It doesn't exist, it never will!)

If that doesn't whet your appetite, nothing will.

BTW, I'm attaching a PDF of the rough score...sorry you had trouble with the Finale 2005 file.

Oh good. Much appreciated; I haven't been able to get your Finale files to open either (logical, considering that the Baron and I have the same version of it - and yes, I do mean the very same).

I think I've commented elsewhere on these, but I'll re-emphasise that I really enjoyed them, especially the first. Unsurprisingly enough. Heh.

I'm glad! You do tend to favour the more lively and spirited stuff, and my favourite of the two is "Secondate," the slow serenade...makes me misty. Vive la difference!

Mille grâces, Vicomte... But gaspation! Do you truly expect me to approve of such a narrow, misogynistic aria? I am shocked, shocked and appalled that you could think such things of me. Wretched woman-hater! It's just as well you're gay, you'd be a terrible mate to a woman, evidently!

In more serious news, having looked at the score -- this may be an odd compliment, but it looks right. That's the person who reads orchestration books for fun in me for you...