The Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297/300a, better known as the Paris Symphony, is one of the most famous symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It may have been first of his symphonies to be published when Seiber released their edition in 1779. [1]
The autograph manuscript of the symphony (with that of the alternative middle movement) are preserved in the Berlin State Library.
The work was composed in 1778 during Mozart's unsuccessful job-hunting sojourn in Paris. The composer was then 22 years old. The premiere took place on 12 June 1778 in a private performance in the home of Count Karl Heinrich Joseph von Sickingen, the ambassador of the Electorate of the Palatinate. The public premiere took place six days later in a performance at the Concert Spirituel. [2]
The work received a positive review in the June 26 issue of the Courrier de l'Europe, published in London:
The Concert Spirituel on Corpus Christi Day began with a symphony by M. Mozart. This artist, who from the tenderest age made a name for himself among harpsichord players, may today be ranked among the most able composers. [lower-alpha 1] [3]
The work was performed again at the Concert Spirituel on 15 August, this time with a new second movement, an Andante replacing the original Andantino in 6/8 (the latter, according to Deutsch, "had failed to please".) [4]
The work evidently was popular. Deutsch lists several further performances at the Concert Spirituel during 1779, on 18 and 23 March, 23 May, and 3 June; and on 14 May 1780. [5] The work was published in Paris by Sieber and announced for sale 20 February 1779. During the years 1782 to 1788, Sieber's catalog described it as "in the repertoire of the Concert Spirituel". [6]
The symphony was later performed in the Burgtheater in Vienna on 11 March 1783 during a benefit concert for Mozart's sister-in-law, the singer Aloysia Weber. [7]
The symphony is notable for having an unusually large instrumentation for its time, made possible by the large orchestra available to Mozart during his time in Paris. There are 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 soprano clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings. It was Mozart's first symphony to use clarinets.
Sadie remarks that this is the largest orchestra for which Mozart had yet composed in his career. The number of string players is (as usual) not specified in the score, but Sadie remarks that at the premiere there were 22 violins, five violas, eight cellos, and five basses. He adds, "[Mozart's father] Leopold remarked that, to judge by the Parisian symphonies he had seen, the French must like noisy symphonies." [8]
The symphony is laid out in fast-slow-fast form, omitting the Minuet normally found in classical-era symphonies:
The first movement opens with a rising and accelerating D major scale in an effect known at the time as the Mannheim Rocket.
Both second movements still exist, [9] as does a sketch of an earlier longer version of the 6
8 Andantino. [10] [11]
Sadie notes, reflecting on Leopold's remark given above, that indeed "Mozart's Paris Symphony is quite noisy. It has vigorous, stirring tuttis, with a lively violin line and an active line for the basses, lending the music extra animation. The actual thematic matter is relatively conventional, more a matter of figures than melodies, but there is not development as such, and most of the working-out of ideas comes at their presentation." [8]
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 the "Little G minor symphony", No. 25. The two are the only extant minor key symphonies Mozart wrote.
The Symphony No. 1 in E♭ major, K. 16, is a symphony written in 1764 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of eight years. By this time, he was already notable in Europe as a wunderkind performer but had composed little music.
Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385, also known as the Haffner Symphony, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782. It was commissioned by the Haffners, a prominent Salzburg family, for the occasion of the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner the Younger. The Haffner Symphony should not be confused with the eight-movement Haffner Serenade, another piece Mozart wrote on commission from the same family in 1776.
The Piano Sonata No. 13 in B-flat major, K. 333 (315c), also known as the "Linz Sonata", was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Linz at the end of 1783.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K. 310 / 300d, was written in 1778. The sonata is the first of only two Mozart piano sonatas in a minor key. It was composed in the summer of 1778 around the time of his mother's death, one of the most tragic times of his life.
It is not known when Mozart completed his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in E-flat major, K. 365/316a, but research by Alan Tyson shows that cadenzas for the first and third movements are written in his and his father's handwriting on a type of paper used between August 1775 and January 1777. However, most sources, including Alan Tyson's book Mozart: Studies of the Autograph Scores or more recently Lindeman's The Concerto: A Research and Information Guide (2006) indicate that it was composed in 1779. It is presumed that Mozart wrote it to play with his sister Maria Anna ("Nannerl"). Years later he performed it in a private concert with pupil Josepha Barbara Auernhammer.
The Serenade for Orchestra No. 9 in D major K. 320, Posthorn, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Salzburg, in 1779. The manuscript is dated 3 August 1779 and was intended for the University of Salzburg's "Finalmusik" ceremony that year.
Symphony No. 6 in F major, K. 43, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1767. According to Alfred Einstein in his 1937 revision of the Köchel catalogue, the symphony was probably begun in Vienna and completed in Olomouc, a Moravian city to which the Mozart family fled to escape a Viennese smallpox epidemic; see Mozart and smallpox.
Symphony No. 7 in D major, K. 45, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was completed in Vienna in January 1768 after the family's return from a visit to Olomouc and Brno in Moravia. The symphony is in four movements. Its first performance was probably at a private concert. The symphony was reworked to become the overture to Mozart's opera, La finta semplice, K. 51, composed and performed later that year, and the overture itself was subsequently adapted further to create a new symphony, known in the Köchel 1964 (K6) catalogue as K. 46a. The autograph of the score is preserved in the Berlin State Library.
Symphony No. 9 in C major, K. 73/75a, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has an uncertain provenance. The most likely date of its composition appears to be late 1769 or early 1770 during Mozart's first Italian journey, although some authorities have dated it "probably not before early summer 1772". It may have been started in Salzburg, before the first Italian journey began, and completed during the trip.
Symphony No. 13 in F major, K. 112, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was written in Milan during his second journey to Italy in the autumn of 1771. The symphony is in four movements, the second of which is scored for strings alone. The third movement minuet may have been written earlier, and then incorporated into the symphony—the autograph manuscript shows the minuet copied in Leopold's hand. Nicholas Kenyon describes Symphony No. 13 as the last in "conventional mode"—thereafter "we are in the beginnings of a different world."
The Symphony No. 15 in G major, K. 124 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was written in Salzburg during the first weeks of 1772. A note on the autograph manuscript indicates that it might have been written for a religious occasion, possibly in honour of the new Archbishop of Salzburg. The work is in four movements, the first of which has been described as innovative and "daring", in view of its variations of tempo. The last movement is characterised by good humour and frivolity, with "enough ending jokes to bring the house down".
Symphony No. 11 in D major, K. 84/73q, was at one time considered unquestionably to be the work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Its status has, however, been challenged, and remains uncertain. It is believed to date from 1770, and may have been written in Milan or Bologna, if it is a genuine Mozart work. An early manuscript from Vienna attributes the work to Wolfgang, but nineteenth-century copies of the score attribute it respectively to Leopold Mozart and to Carl Dittersdorf. Neal Zaslaw writes: "A comparison of the results of two stylistic analyses of the work's first movement with analyses of unquestionably genuine first movements of the period by the three composers suggests that Wolfgang is the most likely of the three to have been the composer of K73q".
The Serenade No. 5 in D major, K. 204/213a was written on 5 August 1775 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for ceremonies at the University of Salzburg. The work is very similar to the serenade K. 203, composed for Salzburg the previous summer.
The Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds in E-flat major, K. 297b, is a work thought to be by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and orchestra. He originally wrote a work for flute, oboe, horn, bassoon, and orchestra, K. Anh. 9 (297B), in Paris in April 1778. This original work is lost.
The Symphony "No. 43" in F major, K. 76/42a, was probably written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The Symphony in D major "No. 45", K. 95/73n, was probably written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1770 in Rome.
The Symphony in A minor "Odense", K. Anh. 220/16a, was formerly attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. If the Odense Symphony had truly been Mozart's, it would be among only three of Mozart's symphonies to be written in a minor key. It is now considered certain that the symphony is not by Mozart.
The Missa brevis No. 7 in C major, K. 258, is a mass composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1776. It is scored for SATB soloists, SATB choir, violin I and II, 2 oboes, 2 clarini, 3 trombones colla parte, timpani and basso continuo.
The divertimenti in F major, B-flat major, E-flat major, F major, and B-flat major are five companion compositions for pairs of oboes, horns and bassoons by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
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