, (also spelled Galimathias musicum) K. 32, is a quodlibet composed in March 1766 by the ten-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during his grand tour of Europe for festivities celebrating the installation of William V, Prince of Orange. It was first performed at The Hague on 11 March 1766. It was also performed on the family's journey back to Salzburg during a 12-day stopover in October 1766 in Donaueschingen. A typical performance of this piece lasts between 16 and 20 minutes.
Instrumentation and structure The work is scored for two oboes, two horns in D (and C and F), bassoon, mainly with double bass, harpsichord and strings. It consists of seventeen movements, with several lasting less than one minute:
A galimatias is a term for nonsense, gobbledygook, a hodgepodge. Not all instruments feature in every movement. No. 8, molto adagio, contains the lyrics, , for voices with violin I, violin II, viola, and bass.
The fugue, No. 17, is based on Mozart's iteration of Wilhelmus, a Dutch patriotic song that would later become the Netherlands' national anthem, as heard as the theme in his set of seven variations on it, K. 25 (March 1766).
Discography Below is an incomplete list of recordings: YearConductorOrchestraSingersLabelFormat1987János RollaFranz Liszt Chamber Orchestra -HungarotonOne track per movement 1990 -Orpheus Chamber Orchestra -Deutsche GrammophonSingle uninterrupted track1990Neville MarrinerAcademy of St Martin in the FieldsAmbrosian SingersPhilips ClassicsDivided into tracks consisting of several movements1998Gunar LetzborArs Antiqua AustriaSt. Florian Boys' ChoirChesky RecordsOne track per movement 2024Vahan MardirossianCzech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra -Brilliant ClassicsOne track per movement
References
External links
"Work details, sound file", Köchel-Verzeichnis, International Mozarteum Foundation "Wolfgang Amadé Mozart – Verk – Orkesterserenader: Galimathias musicum, K. 32", background, analysis (in English) "Mozart Makes a Quodlibet – Gallimathias Musicum" by Maureen Buja, 15 March 2025, interlude.hk , Ars Antiqua Austria, conducted by