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40 (Mozart) - Wikipedia

Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)

Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in
1788. It is sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony", to distinguish it from
Symphony in G minor
the "Little G minor symphony", No. 25. The two are the only extant minor key symphonies No. 40
Mozart wrote.[1][nb 1] by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Contents
History
Composition
Premiere
Music
I. Molto allegro
II. Andante
III. Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio
IV. Finale. Allegro assai
Legacy Mozart c. 1788
Reception Key G minor
Influence
Catalogue K. 550
First recording Composed 1788
Notes Movements four
References
Audio samples
Bibliography
Further reading 0:00 MENU

External links I. Molto allegro (8:13)

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History 0:00 MENU

II. Andante (10:15)

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Composition
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The date of completion of this symphony is known exactly, since Mozart in his mature III. Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio (4:32)
years kept a full catalog of his completed works; he entered the 40th Symphony into it on file · help
25 July 1788.[2] Work on the symphony occupied an exceptionally productive period of
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just a few weeks during which time he also completed the 39th and 41st symphonies
(26 June and 10 August, respectively).[3] Nikolaus Harnoncourt conjectured that Mozart IV. Finale. Allegro assai (7:11)
composed the three symphonies as a unified work, pointing, among other things, to the file · help
fact that the Symphony No. 40, as the middle work, has no introduction (unlike No. 39)
and does not have a finale of the scale of No. 41's.[4]

The 40th symphony exists in two versions, differing primarily in that one includes parts for a pair of clarinets (with suitable
adjustments made in the other wind parts). Most likely, the clarinet parts were added in a revised version.[5] The autograph
scores of both versions were acquired in the 1860s by Johannes Brahms, who later donated the manuscripts to the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, where they reside today.[6]

Premiere

As Neal Zaslaw has pointed out, writers on Mozart have often suggested – or even asserted – that Mozart never heard his 40th
Symphony performed. Some commentators go further, suggesting that Mozart wrote the symphony (and its companions, Nos.
39 and 41) without even intending it to be performed, but rather for posterity, as (to use Alfred Einstein's words) an "appeal to
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eternity".[nb 2]

Modern scholarship suggests that these conjectures are not correct. First, in a recently discovered 10 July 1802 letter by the
musician Johann Wenzel (1762–1831) to the publisher Ambrosius Kühnel in Leipzig, Wenzel refers to a performance of the
symphony at the home of Baron Gottfried van Swieten with Mozart present, but the execution was so poor that the composer
had to leave the room.[7][nb 3]

There is strong circumstantial evidence for other, probably better, performances. On several occasions between the
composition of the symphony and the composer's death, symphony concerts were given featuring Mozart's music for which
copies of the program have survived, announcing a symphony unidentified by date or key. These include:[8]

Dresden, 14 April 1789, during Mozart's Berlin journey

Leipzig, 12 May 1789, on the same trip
Frankfurt, 15 October 1790
Copies survive of a poster for a concert given by the Tonkünstler-Societät (Society of Musicians) 17 April 1791 in the
Burgtheater in Vienna, conducted by Mozart's colleague Antonio Salieri. The first item on the program was billed as "A
Grand Symphony composed by Herr Mozart".[nb 4]

Most important is the fact that Mozart revised his symphony (see above). As Zaslaw says, this "demonstrates that [the
symphony] was performed, for Mozart would hardly have gone to the trouble of adding the clarinets and rewriting the flutes
and oboes to accommodate them, had he not had a specific performance in view."[9] The orchestra for the 1791 Vienna concert
included the clarinetist brothers Anton and Johann Nepomuk Stadler; which, as Zaslaw points out, limits the possibilities to
just the 39th and 40th symphonies.[9]

Zaslaw adds: "The version without clarinets must also have been performed, for the reorchestrated version of two passages in
the slow movement, which exists in Mozart's hand, must have resulted from his having heard the work and discovered an
aspect needing improvement."[10][nb 5]

Regarding the concerts for which the Symphony was originally intended when it was composed in 1788, Otto Erich Deutsch
suggests that Mozart was preparing to hold a series of three "Concerts in the Casino", in a new casino in the Spiegelgasse
owned by Philipp Otto. Mozart even sent a pair of tickets for this series to his friend Michael Puchberg. But it seems
impossible to determine whether the concert series was held, or was cancelled for lack of interest.[3] Zaslaw suggests that only
the first of the three concerts was actually held.

Music
The symphony is scored (in its revised version) for flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and strings.

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

I. Molto allegro, 2
2
6
II. Andante, 8
3
III. Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio, 4
IV. Finale. Allegro assai, 2
2

I. Molto allegro

The first movement begins darkly, not with its first theme but with the 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 last 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 first theme is as follows.

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II. Andante
6 time. It is in the subdominant key of the relative major of G minor (B♭ major): E♭
The second movement is a lyrical work in 8
major. The contrapuntal opening bars of this movement appear thus in keyboard reduction:

III. Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio

The minuet begins with an angry, cross-accented hemiola rhythm and a pair of three-bar phrases, as shown in the following
piano reduction:

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 winds.

IV. Finale. Allegro assai

The fourth movement opens with a series of rapidly ascending notes outlining the tonic triad illustrating what is commonly
referred to as the Mannheim rocket.

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The 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 in which every tone in the chromatic scale but one is
played, strongly destabilizing the key, occurs at the beginning of the development section. The single note left out is in fact a G
(the tonic).

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Legacy

Reception

This work has elicited varying interpretations from critics. Robert Schumann regarded it as possessing "Grecian lightness and
grace".[11] 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."[12]

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

Influence

Ludwig van Beethoven knew the symphony well, copying out 29 bars from the score in one of his sketchbooks.[13] As Gustav
Nottebohm observed in 1887, the copied bars appear amid the sketches for Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, whose third
movement begins with a pitch sequence similar to that of Mozart's finale (see example below).[14]

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Franz Schubert likewise copied down the music of Mozart's minuet, and the minuet of his Fifth Symphony strongly evokes
Mozart's.[15] Zaslaw has suggested that a passage late in Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Seasons (1801), a meditation on death,
quotes the second movement of the 40th Symphony and was included by Haydn as a memorial to his long-dead friend.[nb 6]

First recording
The first known recording of the 40th Symphony is by the Victor Recording Company and issued in 1915 under the title
"Symphony in G Minor". The Victor Concert Orchestra performed under the direction of conductor Walter B. Rogers.[16]

Notes
1. A possible exception is the so-called "Odense Symphony", whose attribution to Mozart is doubtful; see Mozart
symphonies of spurious or doubtful authenticity.
2. For discussion of claims of this sort, see Zaslaw 1994; the quotation from Einstein is taken from this source.
3. The letter reads "im Wien habe ich selbst es von verstorbenem Mozart gehört, als Er sie bei Baron Wanswiten [sic] hat
produciren lassen, das[s] er wärend der production aus dem Zimmer sich hat entfernen müssen, wie man Sie unrichtig
aufgeführt hat", meaning "and in Vienna I have heard myself from the departed Mozart, that when he had it performed in
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Baron Wanswiten’s rooms, he had to leave the room during the performance because it was being played so
incorrectly."[7]
4. The text of the poster is given in Deutsch 1965, p. 393.
5. Though quoted heavily above, Zaslaw is not alone in denigrating the old view that the symphony was never performed:
Otto Biba 2009 writes, "Since there is no known date of a premiere performance, there developed the long standing
legend among Mozart biographers of a romantic persuasion, who wished to portray primarily the brilliance and tragedy of
a genius' life, that Mozart never heard performances of [his last] three symphonies. This arrogant assumption, which
equates missing information with the theory that the event never happened, is not serious scholarship and must be
rejected."
6. See No. 38, the aria "Erblicke hier, bethörter Mensch". Source: Zaslaw & Cowdery 1990, p. 210.

References
1. "Mozart - Symphony No. 40 in G minor" (https://www.classicfm.com/composers/mozart/music/symphony-no-40-g-minor/).
Classic FM. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
2. Heartz 2009, p. 207.
3. Deutsch 1965, p. 320.
4. Clements, Andrew (23 July 2014). "Mozart: The Last Symphonies review – a thrilling journey through a tantalising new
theory" (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/23/mozart-last-symphonies-nikolaus-harnoncourt-review). The
Guardian.
5. Zaslaw 1983, p. 10.
6. See Zaslaw 1983, p. 10, Swafford 1997, p. 287, and this facsimile edition (http://www.omifacsimiles.com/brochures/moz_s
ym550.html).
7. Milada Jonášová: "Eine Aufführung der g-moll-Sinfonie KV 550 bei Baron van Swieten im Beisein Mozarts", in: Mozart
Studien 20, Tutzing 2011, pp. 253–268. An abridged English translation was published in the Newsletter of the Mozart
Society of America 16.1 (2012),(online (http://mozartsocietyofamerica.org/publications/newsletter/archive/MSA-JAN-12.pd
f)).
8. List from Zaslaw 1983
9. Zaslaw 1983, p. 9
10. Zaslaw 1983, pp. 9–10.
11. James 1967, p. 33.
12. Rosen 1997, p. 334.
13. Hopkins 1981.
14. Nottebohm 1887, p. 531.
15. Zaslaw & Cowdery 1990, p. 210.
16. "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony in G Minor" (http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/700000755/C-15
768-Symphony_in_G_minor). Discography of American Historical Recordings.

Bibliography
Biba, Otto (2009). "Kommentar", Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Sinfonie g-moll, KV 550. Autographe Partitur. Erste und
zweite Fassung. Faksimile-Ausgabe. Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, p. 8.
Deutsch, Otto Erich (1965). Mozart: A Documentary Biography (https://archive.org/details/mozartdocumentar0000deut).
Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
Heartz, Daniel (2009). Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven, 1781–1802. New York: W. W. Norton. Extracts online (https://
books.google.com/books?id=Ra6qxvtVs20C&pg=PA207&dq=mozart+entered+40th+symphony+in+catalog&hl=en&sa=X&
ved=0ahUKEwjs08adzcvOAhVH8WMKHcMfBrAQ6AEIKTAC#v=onepage&q=mozart%20entered%2040th%20symphon
y%20in%20catalog&f=false) at Google Books.
Hopkins, Antony (1981). The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven. Heineman.
James, Burnett (1967). An Adventure in Music (https://books.google.co.uk/books?redir_esc=y&id=YT1FAQAAIAAJ&dq=s
chumann+mozart+%22lightness+and+grace%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22lightness+and+grace%22). London:
Baker. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
Nottebohm, Gustav (1887). Zweite Beethoviana. Leipzig: C. F. Peters. Available online Zweite Beethoveniana: at the
International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Rosen, Charles (1997). The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (https://archive.org/details/classicalstyleha00rose)
(expanded ed.). New York and London: W. W. Norton. Online (https://archive.org/details/classicalstyleha00rose/page/324)
at Google Books.

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Swafford, Jan (1997). Johannes Brahms: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Zaslaw, Neal (1983). Introductory notes to a recording of the 31st and 40th Symphonies made by Christopher Hogwood
and the Academy of Ancient Music, Oiseau-Lyre 410-197-2
Zaslaw, Neal (1994). "Mozart as Working Stiff". In James M. Morris (ed.). On Mozart. Washington: Woodrow Wilson
Center Press.
Zaslaw, Neal; Cowdery, William (1990). The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart. New York: W. W. Norton. Extracts cited (https://books.google.com/books?id=CChN90GGcQQC&pg=PA210&dq=
mozart+k+550&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjpz8ezvdXOAhUPwmMKHYZwD7oQ6AEIUDAJ#v=onepage&q=mozart%20
k%20550&f=false) at Google Books.

Further reading
Schoenberg, Arnold (1954, rvs. 1969). Structural Functions of Harmony. New York: W. W. Norton. Analyzes the wide-
ranging development sections of both outer movements at some length.

External links

Sinfonie in g K. 550 (1. Fassung): Score (https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=111&gen=edition&l=1

&p1=63) and critical report (https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=112&l=1&p1=19) (in German) in
the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe

Sinfonie in g K. 550 (2. Fassung): Score (https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=111&gen=edition&l=1

&p1=125) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
Symphony No. 40: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Kalmus miniature editions (http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/bgn8245/index.html), from the William and Gayle
Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
A public domain version by the Columbia University Orchestra at TEOC Classical Music Radio (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20120612213936/http://classicsplayer.com/): Symphony No. 40 (https://web.archive.org/web/20120804031656/http://cla
ssicsplayer.com/Classics/MozartSymphonyNo40/play.php)
The apartment where Mozart wrote his last three Symphonies: Michael Lorenz, "Mozart's Apartment on the Alsergrund" (h
ttp://homepage.univie.ac.at/michael.lorenz/alsergrund)

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