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Acis and Galatea
George Frideric Handel, arr. by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Staged and choreographed by Mark Morris
Original set design painting by Adrianne Lobel.
See the full set in the Gallery.
The Mozart Arrangement of Acis and Galatea
In 1788, W.A. Mozart arranged Acis and Galatea for patron Baron Gottfried van Swieten. Van Swieten sought to revive the baroque style by commissioning new arrangements of older works to be played at his weekly salons in Vienna. Mozart arranged Acis and Galatea in the classical style of the day. He added second violin, woodwind, viola, and bassoon parts and re-wrote the oboe solos for clarinet. The clarity of Mozart's arrangement emphasized the dynamics and phrasing of the melodic line.
"Mozart's expertly crafted revision adds to the orchestra's sonority and palette of colors" (New York Times).
Handel's original version
Mozart arrangement
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