Traditional :: Church Sonata No. 6

Musicians Publications presents W.A. Mozart's Church Sonata No. 6 arranged for woodwind quintet by Bill Holcombe Jr. Scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, and bassoon, this flexible quintet also includes an optional bass clarinet part to replace the bassoon when necessary. This arrangement is advanced in difficulty.

During the Masses at Salzburg Cathedral, sometimes an instrumental piece was played between the Epistle and the Gospel. They were called Epistle Sonatas , or as Mozart called them, Church Sonatas . They included a small orchestral ensemble and organ. Usually the organ part was in the background. But in the Sonata in C the organ comes center stage. This is in effect a five-minute organ concerto. Since we have the wonderful organist Nancianne Parrella with us for this concert (as well as the terrific Baroque stops of The Manton Memorial Organ), it seemed a perfect occasion to include this charming work! [Observant members of the audience may notice that in this work - and all the other Mozart Salzburg' orchestra pieces - there are no violas. It would be fun to make up some story about Mozart having a personal vendetta against some viola player, and thus eliminating any music for the instrument. But in truth it was simply a tradition in 18th century Salzburg churches.]

- Dennis Keene