Two hundred years ago a German musicologist came within an ace of inventing the term 'easy listening', and applied it in his definition of divertimento, a loose term that avoided the more serious connotations of symphony or sonata. It is typical of that impish cheek we now know so well in Mozart, that he was perfectly able to serve his most profound music in the ironic guise of divertimento, as with K563 (Hyperion CDA67246).

The present earlier works [both for two horns and strings] show something of the same disposition, since it is very likely that they were occasion pieces, for occasions—possibly outdoors—at which we can imagine that the audience had other social concerns on their mind; thus he fills the music with quirky turns and shifts as well as moments so beguiling we can imagine a sudden hush descend upon the chatterers!

Wonderful music, here in superb performances by The Gaudier Ensemble, that take us back in time and out of our everyday bothers.