Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Violin Concerto No.3 in G Major, K. 216
Violin Concerto No.5 in A Major, K. 219
Adagio in E Major, K. 261
Rondo in C Major, K. 373

Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus and the subsequent film based on the play presented an apparent paradox. For dramatic rather than historical purposes Mozart was shown as a thoroughly unworthy vehicle for divine inspiration, as opposed to the jealous old court composer Antonio Salieri, worthy but uninspired. The truth of the matter must be rather different. Mozart had been brought up to mix with a higher level of society and to avoid too much contact with humble musicians, in this following the example of his father.

The five violin concertos that Mozart wrote in Salzburg in 1775 might seem to offer a similar paradox, at least when they were performed by the violinist Antonio Brunetti, a man whom Mozart was later to describe as a disgrac