Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 40 And 41

Description

Wolfgang - Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) Symphony No.40 in G Minor, K. 550Symphony No.41 in C Major, K. 551 "Jupiter"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1756, the son ofLeopold Mozart, who in the same year had published his important book onviolin-playing. Leopold Mozart was an educated man, who had embarked on studyat the Benedictine University in Salzburg but had turned rather to music,thereafter, entering the service of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, tobecome composer to the court and finally, in 1763, deputy Kapellmeister.It was unfortunate that early distinction never brought Mozart the fullmeasure of material success and security that he and his father regarded as hisdue. In Salzburg an indulgent patron had been succeeded in 1772 by anarchbishop with better defined ideas of what was due from his servants. Therewere reforms in the church liturgy and restrictions on leaves of absenceneither of which pleased the Mozarts. The effect of this was Mozart's decision,in 1781, to secure his dismissal, which he did during the course of a visit bythe archbishop and his entourage to Vienna.Independence in Vienna brought its own problems. There was initialsuccess, with the composition of works for the theatre, a field in which Mozarthad long wished to shine, and appearances in concerts. Towards the end of thedecade his popularity seemed to wane, but at the time of his death in 1791 theGerman opera The Magic Flute was enjoying enormous success.The summer of 1788 found Mozart and his wife established by June in newquarters further out of town. In a letter to his fellow-mason, MichaelPuchberg, he points out the advantages of the change, since the place ischeaper than the Landstrasse, nearer the centre of Vienna, which he had left inDecember the previous year, after some embarrassment over the payment of rent:furthermore, there is a garden and the house is equally suitable for summer orwinter. The object of Mozart's letter to Puchberg was primarily to raise money,if possible a large enough sum to enable him to discharge debts as theyoccurred, a request with which Puchberg was wise enough not to comply. Funherletters of a similar kind were to follow.It was during the space of a few weeks that Mozart wrote down his lastthree symphonies, of which the Symphony in Gminor, K. 550, is the penultimate. The first of the group, the Symphony in E flat, in which oboes arereplaced by clarinets, was finished on 26th June, the second, in G minor, on25th July and the third, the so-called JupiterSymphony, two weeks later. The G minor Symphony, originally writtenwithout clarinets, had these instruments added in a later revision. Unlike itscompanions, it makes no use of trumpets and drums. Presumably the threesymphonies were intended to form pan of concerts to be given in Vienna in thecoming season. In fact Mozart was to give no more concerts of his own music, ashe had done in earlier years in Vienna. His last Piano Concerto, K. 595, was performed as pan of a pr