Letter from Mozart

Mozart is the focus this Home Delivery.  Christopher Millard performs Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto; and we’ve paired it with a modern response to Mozart by the late Canadian composer Michael Colgrass, his Letter from Mozart (1976).  Colgrass’s whimsical work has a charming framework:  a “letter” from Mozart to Michael Colgrass, offering to be an inspiration for his next piece, hoping to hear how a Mozartean melody would sound when given modern compositional treatment.  Listen for everything from cacophonous percussion to Oompah bands and accordions. 

Mozart was only 18 years old when he composed his Bassoon Concerto, but by then, he’d written 18 symphonies and more than a few Italian operas.  He treats the soloist in this concerto like a singer, for whom he’s written beautiful melodies with operatic poignancy, range and humour.   It’s the perfect vehicle for our brilliant opera-loving and deeply thoughtful principal bassoonist Christopher Millard.