Symphony No. 19 (Mozart)

Mozart in 1770

Structure

Like the other symphonies that Mozart composed between December 1771 to August 1772, the symphony features relatively large wind section. It is scored for two oboes, four horns (two in E-flat high, two in E-flat low), and strings. These forces are surprising because the official list of instrumentalists in the court orchestra included only two/three horns and no flutes. This meant that Mozart would have had to rely on the relatively common practice of certain instrumentalists switching to a secondary instrument (oboists playing the flute, for example). ^[2]

There are four movements:

1. Allegro, ⁴
   ₄
2. Andante, ³
   ₈
3. Menuetto – Trio, ³
   ₄
4. Allegro, ²
   ₂

The first movement opens with a motif that Mozart would later use at the beginning of his twenty-second piano concerto in the same key. ^[3] The exposition is brief and there is no repeat. The development focuses on new material. ^[3]

There is also an alternative slow movement, marked Andantino grazioso. ^[1] The tempo marks in the first, second and fourth movements were written in the hand of Leopold Mozart. ^[1]

The finale is a French rondo in seven-part form (ABACADA). Each part of the rondo is repeated except for the final A. ^[3]

References

1. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (2005). Die Sinfonien III. Translated by Robinson, J. Branford. Kassel: Bärenreiter. p. XI. ISMN M-006-20466-3
2. Keefe, Simon P (2006). "The Symphonies". In Eisen, Cliff; Keefe, Simon P. (eds.). The Cambridge Mozart encyclopedia. Cambridge, [England]: Cambridge University Press. p. 499. ISBN   978-0-521-85659-1.
3. Brown, A. Peter, The Symphonic Repertoire (Volume 2). Indiana University Press ( ISBN   0-253-33487-X), p. 367 (2002).

External links

•  Symphony in E-flat, K. 132: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe , first movement recordings
• Symphony No. 19 : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project