Mozart: The Symphonies

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Links to scores of each symphony have been included. All the symphonies in this table except Nos. 2, 3 and 37 (which are spurious) have links to scores in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe; the spurious symphonies Nos. 2, 3 and 37 have links to scores at the International Music Score Library Project.

Symphony No. 28 is, in my opinion, the most overlooked of his symphonic works. I admit on the surface nothing looks remarkable: the piece is in C, features Mozart’s typical instrumentation and is in a basic four movement structure. While nothing jumps out as genius, it is consistently engaging the listener with clever melodic writing, each movement making the most of it’s brief runtime. Interestingly, although recordings are much less frequent than his later symphonies, I find the 28th to have the most variation in interpretation. There are the typical Mozart differentiations, like inclusion of repeats and tempo, but most noticeable is the approach taken towards appogiaturas. In December 1769, Mozart, then age 13, and his father departed from Salzburg for Italy, leaving his mother and sister at home. It seems that by this time Nannerl’s professional music career was over. She was nearing marriageable age and according to the custom of the time, she was no longer permitted to show her artistic talent in public. The Italian outing was longer than the others (1769-1771) as Leopold wanted to display his son’s abilities as a performer and composer to as many new audiences as possible. While in Rome, Mozart heard Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere performed once in the Sistine Chapel. He wrote out the entire score from memory, returning only to correct a few minor errors. During this time Mozart also wrote a new opera, Mitridate, re di Ponto for the court of Milan. Other commissions followed and in subsequent trips to Italy, Mozart wrote two other operas, Ascanio in Alba (1771) and Lucio Silla (1772). There is no definitive answer to this question as it largely depends on how you define a symphony. However, if we look at the composers who have written the most symphonies according to the commonly accepted definition of the genre, then it is clear that the three most prolific symphony composers are Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Johannes Brahms. Between them, these three composers have written well over 200 symphonies. Composing music in G minor might not sound like a controversial musical decision, but it was unusual at the time. With wide leaps in the tunes, and brisk rhythms in the strings, both symphonies are part of Mozart’s Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) music. Moving forward to Symphony No. 40, Mozart breaks boundaries once more – a symphony would normally end on a more positive note, in a major key, but No. 40 ends in G minor. It’s passionate and violent, and tragically beautiful. One of the most famous, the “Haffner” symphony, named for a benefactor family of Mozart, is identical in structure down to the movement types as No. 28, but is fleshed out and developed further. The first of his “late” symphonies sets the bar high with a stupendous opening allegro whose intrigue lasts through the many repeats, the beautifully flowing andante (proto-Beethoven 6), and the fierce closing presto. The only real weak point is the quaint but forgettable Menuetto. Throughout the work Mozart recycles a lot of motifs from older symphonies into a more complex orchestral sound, and thankfully a more interesting string arrangement.Mozart’s orchestral work spans 24 years from 1764 to 1788. According to the most recent investigations, Mozart wrote up to 68 complete works of this type. Mozart revised some of the symphonies (K.297, 385, and 550) after they had already been written. Piano sonatas and other piano pieces were Mozart’s first attempts at writing music. Mozart wrote 20 piano solo works between 1782 and 1786, including the piano solo classics (sonatas, variations, fantasias, suites, fugues, and rondo); the Horn Concertos are frequently performed by professional horn players. Almost everything he wrote for the piano was intended to be played solo. Mozart created over 100 types of dance for orchestra, such as Minuetto (more than 100), Contredanse, and Allemande. Mozart’s sacred music, which combines Gregorian choral elements with rigorous counterpoint, has a rich stylistic mosaic. All of his sacred music is distinguished by consistent styling and symmetry. Mozart adopts a French style of orchestral music in this symphony, written in 1778. The string players are pushed to the fore and the wind section is larger than usual – he even uses clarinets. Rushing scales and lively dynamic changes give this symphony a playful character.

Favorite Moment:The driving string theme in the first movement. The development section soon after. The tutti sforzandos in the second movement. The entire fourth movement is unmissable. The first and second movements based on music from the opera Il re pastore, K. 208. The third movement is listed separately as K. 102/213c. The second movement is incomplete. These last three symphonies, all completed in the summer of 1788, are not only his most famous symphonies but some of the most flawless orchestral works of all time. There are moments in each that make me think I’m listening to the greatest music ever composed.

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Symphonies and operas were a lot more interchangeable in Vienna in 1767 than they are now. Mozart even rips off one of his themes from an opera he wrote that year, Apollo et Hyacinthus, in the second movement. You might be forgiven for thinking the symphony sounds a bit like an opera overture with Mozart’s fast shimmering strings and trademark fluttering flutes - it shares some of its lively characteristics with The Marriage of Figaro, composed 19 years later. Unfortunately, Mozart has written a lot of symphonies that were either destroyed, unfinished, unpublished, or lost but, some are fortunately included in his list of symphonies. It was actually discovered that Mozart had written 52 symphonies. The opening of the brilliant K133 (No 20) has a splendid swing, with its prominent trumpets, and a real sense of a big, symphonic piece. K184 (No 26) is duly fiery and its accents are neatly judged. K201 and K202 (Nos 29 and 30) are both very impressively done: an eloquent rather than a fiery account (though something of that too) of the opening movement of K201, with a particularly euphonious and shapely Andante. Erich Leinsdorf is best known in the United States from his RCA recordings of Romantic and 20th century repertoire with the Boston Symphony from the 1960s, but he also recorded – here released anew by Universal – the first integral cycle of Mozart’s Symphonies in the late 1950s with the “Philharmonic Symphony of London”, actually Sir Thomas Beecham’s Royal Philharmonic under a different name.

The first, second, and fourth movements together constitute the overture to the opera Lucio Silla, K. 135. The third movement, a minuet, is listed separately as K. 61h No. 3; it is this movement whose authorship is doubtful. It’s no secret that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the greatest, most prolific composers of all time. While he excelled in many different types of composition, including opera, chamber and piano works, it’s his symphonic work that best shows his musical genius. The symphonies spanned his entire career, from ages 8 to 32, showing his range and development, originally numbered as brilliant 41 works. Although some have since been identified as falsely attributed, the remaining number still ranks him as one of the most impressive of all the major symphonists, behind only Haydn who wrote an astonishing 106.Best Known For: A prolific artist, Austrian composer Wolfgang Mozart created a string of operas, concertos, symphonies and sonatas that profoundly shaped classical music. Alte Mozart-Ausgabe, the full name of which was the "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts Werke: Kritisch durchgesehene Gesamt ausgabe". There are no symphonies "GA 49" and "GA 53". Symphonies 1-20 are in stereo; 21-41 are mono. The mono sound is very clear and not congested, and I enjoyed the mono recordings as much as the stereo ones. This is a list of symphonies by the classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Symphonies No. 2 (attributed to Leopold Mozart) and 3 (written by Carl Friedrich Abel) are spurious. Mozart's "37th symphony" is actually Michael Haydn's 25th symphony; Mozart only added a 20-bar slow introduction to it. Some symphonies of uncertain authenticity were included in either the Alte Mozart-Ausgabe or the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe; they are in this list but marked as uncertain or spurious (in the cases of K. 16a and K. 98, which later scholarship demonstrated have nothing to do with Mozart). No. 11 (K. 84/73q) is considered by scholars to be of uncertain authenticity. Further spurious and doubtful symphonies can be found at Mozart symphonies of spurious or doubtful authenticity. From 1782 to 1785, Mozart divided his time between self-produced concerts as soloist, presenting three to four new piano concertos in each season. Theater space for rent in Vienna was sometimes hard to come by, so Mozart booked himself in unconventional venues such as large rooms in apartment buildings and ballrooms of expensive restaurants. The year 1784, proved the most prolific in Mozart’s performance life. During one five-week period, he appeared in 22 concerts, including five he produced and performed as the soloist. In a typical concert, he would play a selection of existing and improvisational pieces and his various piano concertos. Other times he would conduct performances of his symphonies. The concerts were very well attended as Mozart enjoyed a unique connection with his audiences who were, in the words of Mozart biographer Maynard Solomon, “given the opportunity of witnessing the transformation and perfection of a major musical genre.” During this time, Mozart also began to keep a catalog of his own music, perhaps indicating an awareness of his place in musical history.

Leinsdorf SERVES Mozart here. If you are a fan of Toscanini or George Szell, and their Mozart, wishing for an integral recording of the Symphonies by then, this is as close as you will be able to get. Favorite Moment:The Adagio opening to the first movement is probably the most famous aspect of the symphony, but my favorite moment comes here at the end of the second movement. Mozart repeats a figure from earlier in the piece but switches up the orchestration building to the wonderfully melodic climax. Despite the large orchestration for this moment, the music retains a delicate air, giving a full but gentle sound fitting for the piece.

However, thanks to the release of recordings by some of the world’s most renowned orchestras, symphonies have begun to gain popularity in recent years. There is no longer a need to limit music listening to live performances; it is now possible to listen to the music whenever and wherever you want. Who Wrote Many Symphonies? This cycle also includes the rarely heard K 17 and K 18 (neither of which is by Mozart) and K 444 in its entirety (Mozart wrote only the slow introduction to this symphony by Michael Haydn). Better still, there are no repeats which is a blessing for those who’ve heard these works countless times. Concert chamber music has grown in popularity in recent years, despite the fact that symphonies were originally composed for large orchestras. The reasons for this are simple: orchestral music is louder, and listeners are more easily able to identify individual instruments. The chamber music, on the other hand, is frequently subtler and allows the performer to fine-tune their technique. Perhaps it’s cheating to group these two together, but they’re both examples of Mozart’s growing musical confidence. He uses his trademark features, learnt from studying Haydn and listening to opera in Vienna, but adds new and exciting music never featured in symphonies before – think uneven musical phrases, prominent tunes from the oboes and flutes, cheery violin lines, and brilliant fanfares.