Mozart: The Symphonies

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Having failed to deliver my promised review of the Sony Bruno Walter – The Complete Columbia Collection (Sony 19075923242, Favorite Moment:The fourth movement is one of Mozart’s greatest symphonic compositions and on the whole is incredible. My favorite moment is probably the building up to and first appearance of the movement’s shattering fortissimo theme. 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. Favorite Moment:While I the opening theme is a simple genius and I love the violin interplay in the fourth movement, my favorite section is this blending of winds and violins in the Andante; a precursor for the masterful orchestration in the Andantes of the later symphonies. 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.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart raised the symphony to heights that in many respects remain unsurpassed. Of his 50-odd symphonies, produced between 1764 and 1788, the earliest ones are conventional but precocious, reflecting influences of Johann Christian Bach, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and Joseph Haydn. An invigorating first movement predominates, followed by a light cantabile movement and a fast finale or minuet (minuets in his symphonies date mostly after 1767). The Symphony in B-flat Major, K 22 (1765; “K” or “Köchel” numbers—named for Ludwig, Ritter (knight) von Köchel, the scholar who catalogued Mozart’s musical corpus—are the standard way of identifying Mozart’s works) contains a lovely chromatic slow movement in the key of G minor. His full name is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria, and baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, archbishopric of Salzburg [Austria], who died on December 5, 1791, in Vienna, Austria, making him one of the 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.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. This cycle is amazing. As other reviewers have noted, this is propulsive Mozart in its outer movements and minuets – it’s far removed from the Karl Bohm Memorial Mortuary. But musicality is not ditched in the slipstream: Leinsdorf never forgets to sing. O yes indeed: there’s no substitute for imaginative phrasing in this domain and you’ll find it here aplenty. It’s lithe enough to quell the objections of the Period Practice Taliban. Recording by Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. A little slow for my taste but one of the best available on Youtube.

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.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). The finales of both are done with exceptional vitality and the rhythmic resilience that's characteristic of these performances. 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. Excerpt from the third movement, “Presto,” of Mozart's Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K 504 ( Prague); from a 1950 recording by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer. (more) Despite his success with the compositions, Mozart was growing discontent with his position as assistant concert master and the confining environment of Salzburg. He was ambitious and believed he could do more somewhere else. Archbishop von Colloredo was becoming impatient with the young genius’s complaining and immature attitude. In August 1777, Mozart set out on a trip to find more prosperous employment. The archbishop wouldn’t give Leopold permission to travel, so Anna Maria accompanied Wolfgang on his quest to the cities of Mannheim, Paris and Munich. There were several employment positions that initially proved promising, but all eventually fell through. He began to run out of funds and had to pawn several valuable personal items to pay traveling and living expenses. The lowest point of the trip was when his mother fell ill and died on July 3, 1778. After hearing the news of his wife’s death, Leopold negotiated a better post for his son as court organist in Salzburg and Wolfgang returned soon after. Making it in Vienna

Mozart’s death came at a young age, even for the time period. Yet his meteoric rise to fame and accomplishment at a very early age is reminiscent of more contemporary musical artists whose star had burned out way too soon. At the time of his death, Mozart was considered one of the greatest composers of all time. His music presented a bold expression, oftentimes complex and dissonant, and required high technical mastery from the musicians who performed it. His works remained secure and popular throughout the 19th century, as biographies about him were written and his music enjoyed constant performances and renditions by other musicians. His work influenced many composers that followed -- most notably Beethoven. Along with his friend Joseph Haydn, Mozart conceived and perfected the grand forms of symphony, opera, string ensemble, and concerto that marked the classical period. In particular, his operas display an uncanny psychological insight, unique to music at the time, and continue to exert a particular fascination for musicians and music lovers today. Over 600 pieces of orchestral, chamber, opera, and choral music were composed by the German composer. Mozart grew up in the Mozart family‘s musical home of Salzburg. 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. Symphony In G Major K Anh. 221 (45a) "Old Lambach" = G-dur "Alte Lambacher" = En Sol Majeur "Lambach"

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Favorite Moment:Building off the comment on appogiaturas above, the third movement, the Minuet, can either be one of my favorite Mozart movements or a forgettable let down. In the Krips version I linked above, the appogiaturas are played as eight notes on the beat giving the lilt necessary for a dance piece and the rousing momentsa sense of grandeur (compare to this performance where the appogiatura are played as grace notes.) Favorite Moment:One of my all time favorite Mozart moments comes in the andante of this symphony where the winds take over in with a simple melody in tiers offset by a measure. The arrangement is so simple but creates such a magical effect, exemplifying Mozart’s genius.