juyeonk-LookingOutwards-06

 

(Example of a minuet created by using Mozart’s K.516f.

 

Title: K.516f

Creator: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Year of Creation: 1787

Link to the Article:                              http://www.pianonoise.com/Article.dice.htm  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musikalisches_W%C3%BCrfelspiel

Link to the Bio of the Artist: https://www.biography.com/people/wolfgang-mozart-9417115

 

K.516f is a minuet composed by Mozart in 1787 according to his own version of Musikalische Würfelspiele. Musikalische Würfelspiele (translated: musical dice game) describes any type of game / means of composing musical pieces that involves rolling one or more dices to randomly generate the notes or measures, and it was popular among the composers in the 18th century Europe. It was supposed to offer a fun alternative way of composing, even for the amateurs who were not familiar with the basic rules of composition. Its exact origin or inventor is unknown, but the very first example dates back to 1757, when Johann Philipp Kirnberger wrote Der allezeit fertige Menuetten- und Polonaisencomponist (German for “The Ever-Ready Minuet and Polonaise Composer”). Other famous versions include the ones by C.P.E Bach (J.S. Bach’s fifth son).

The most well-known version of Musikalische Würfelspiele and its product were published by Mozart in 1787. Composition K.516f included the instruction of the game and the pres-made measures to choose from.

Here’s how Mozart’s version works:

There are 176 pre-written measure to choose from if one is to compose a Minuet; 96 if Trio. Two six-sided dices are then rolled to determine which measure comes next. Using the instruction sheet, one could determine which dice roll corresponds to which measure put next.

It’s impressive how the composition sounds so put together and well thought-out even though the measures are randomly arranged. Maybe it’s just Mozart’s brilliance that he was able to compose individual measures that would sound coherent no matter how they are arranged.