Influences of Mannheim Style in W.A. Mozart's Concerto for Oboe, K. 314 (285D) and Jacques-Christian-Michel Widerkehr's Duo Sonata for Oboe and Piano

The court at Mannheim between 1740 and 1778 produced an abundance of musical innovations and compositions. Composers such as Johann Stamitz and Christian Cannabich revolutionized orchestral playing in a multitude of ways, including the establishment of unified bowings and combining the roles of concert master and conductor. Perhaps most important are the stylistic innovations that these composers developed. The Mannheim Style was significant to the propulsion of music from the Baroque to Classical eras. The melodic ornaments, dynamic effects, thematic differentiation, and orchestration tendencies that resulted from the virtuosic players in the orchestra spread throughout Europe, and a multitude of composers were influenced by them. This treatise seeks to identify Mannheim influences in two pieces of the oboe repertoire. First, the Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra, K. 314 (285d) is used to find how Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart employed these techniques. As one of the most important compositions of the oboe repertoire, this oft-performed work is exemplary of how the Mannheim Style influenced even those composers who had not yet visited the city. Second, the Duo Sonata for Oboe and Piano is one of Jacques-Christian-Michel Widerkehr’s small number of surviving compositions. Although it was composed after the Mannheim orchestra was past its prime, his compositions demonstrate the lasting effects of Mannheim Style into the early 19th century. This treatise identifies the impact of Mannheim Style’s idioms on these two works and offers a greater understanding of the pervasiveness and importance of the Mannheim Style’s influence throughout Europe.