Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV. 550, in 1788. It demonstrates a clear sympathy with the Sturm und Drang movement, and today is among the composer's most well-known works.

The 40th Symphony is sometimes referred to as the “Great” G minor symphony, to distinguish it from the “Little” G minor symphony, No. 25. The two are the only minor-key symphonies Mozart wrote, with the possible exception of an early and recently rediscovered A minor symphony known nowadays as the Odense symphony. ([1])

Contents 1 Composition 2 The music 3 Reception 4 Influence 5 Media 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Composition

Mozart wrote the 40th Symphony during an exceptionally productive period of just a few weeks in 1788, during which time he also completed the 39th and 41st symphonies. It has been speculated that he was preparing these works for a planned journey to England which never occurred.

In fact, there is no documentary evidence that the 40th Symphony was performed in Mozart's lifetime at all. There is one clue, namely the fact that the work exists in two versions, the initial version from 1788 plus a later revision in which Mozart added parts for two clarinets and altered the oboe parts. It seems fairly likely that this revision would have been created with a specific performance in mind.

[edit] The music

• 1st version
• 2nd version

The symphony is scored (in its revised version) for flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and a string section containing the usual first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. Notably missing are trumpets and timpani.

The work is in four movements, in the usual arrangement (fast movement, slow movement, minuet, fast movement) for a classical-style symphony:

1. Molto allegro
2. Andante
3. Menuetto: Trio
4. Allegro assai

Every movement but the third is in sonata form; the minuet and trio are in the usual ternary form.

The first movement begins darkly, not with its first theme but with accompaniment, played by the lower strings with divided violas. The technique of beginning a work with an accompaniment figure was later used by Mozart in his final piano concerto (KV. 595) and later became a favorite of the Romantics (examples include the openings of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto).

The second movement is a lyrical work in 6/8 time, in E flat major, the submediant major (rather than the more usual mediant) of the overall G minor key of the symphony.

The minuet begins with an angry, cross-accented hemiola rhythm; various commentators have asserted that while the music is labeled "minuet," it would hardly be suitable for dancing. The contrasting gentle trio section, in G major, alternates the playing of the string section with that of the woodwinds.

The fourth movement is written largely in eight-bar phrases, following the general tendency toward rhythmic squareness in the finales of classical-era symphonies. A remarkable modulating passage, which strongly destabilizes the key, occurs at the beginning of the development section, in which every tone but one in the chromatic scale is played. The single note left out is in fact a g-natural (The key of the piece).

Unlike many minor-key finales of the Classical era, this movement remains resolutely in the minor mode to the very end.

[edit] Reception

This work has elicited varying interpretations from critics. Robert Schumann regarded it as possessing “Grecian lightness and grace”. Donald Francis Tovey saw in it the character of opera buffa. Almost certainly, however, the most common perception today is that the symphony is tragic in tone and intensely emotional; for example, Charles Rosen (in The Classical Style) has called the symphony "a work of passion, violence, and grief."

Although interpretations differ, the symphony is unquestionably one of Mozart's most greatly admired works, and it is frequently performed and recorded.

[edit] Influence

Ludwig van Beethoven knew the symphony well, copying out 29 measures from the score in one of his sketchbooks. It is thought that the opening theme of the last movement may have inspired Beethoven in composing the third movement of his Fifth Symphony; for details see Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven). In addition, the opening movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 2, No.1 in F minor seems to echo some of the rhythmic motives found in the final movement of the symphony (see Piano Sonata No. 1 (Beethoven)).

Several works by Schubert, including one of his string quartets and, especially, the minuet of his Fifth Symphony, show some influence from this work, though Schubert's minuet lacks some of the rhythmic and contrapuntal complexities of Mozart's.

[edit] Media

The following files contain a digital recording of a performance of the 40th Symphony by the Fulda Symphonic Orchestra. The performance took place on March 18, 2001 in the Orangerie in Fulda, Germany.

[edit] References

• Arnold Schoenberg analyzes the wide-ranging development sections of both outer movements at some length in his Structural Functions of Harmony (W.W. Norton and Company, 1954, rev. 1969).
• The remark about Beethoven copying part of the symphony into his sketchbook is taken from Antony Hopkins (1981) The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven. Heineman.

[edit] External links

• The William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music has posted the full score of the symphony.