Mozart: Divertimenti for Oboe - Octophorus

OCTOPHOROS

Paul Dombrecht, Marcel Ponseele, Oboes 

Claude Maury, Piet Dombrecht, Horns 

Danny Bond, Donna Agrell, Bassoons

Between July 1775 and January 1777 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed five divertimenti for two oboes, two horns, and two bassoons: K. 213, 240, 252, 253, and 270. The manuscripts of these works had been preserved in a single volume in the Preussischen Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. At the end of the Second World War they were thought to have been lost, but they reappeared in the Biblioteka Jagiellonska in Krakow. Leopold Mozart had added a date and a Roman numeral to all these manuscripts, with the exception of K. 252. It is an open question whether K. 289, as mentioned by Köchel, should be considered as complementary to the above divertimenti; in fact, if one follows the chamber music conventions of the time these divertimenti could have been published as a six-part cycle. This supposition appears to be confirmed by the fact that the six compositions share a common instrumentation. Indeed, one can divide them into two groups in which the identical keys follow the same order, that is to say F major -B-flat major -E-flat major -F major -B-flat major -E-flat major. 

Relying on considerations of style, some authors nevertheless think that the authenticity of K. 289 is doubtful. Unfortunately,  the autograph  manuscript of the work, which could resolve the matter, has not yet been found. We have to rely on copies, which occasionally display wide differences.