Symphony No.

40 (Mozart)
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"Symphony No. 40" redirects here. For the composition by Michael Haydn, see
Symphony No. 40 (Michael Haydn).

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV. 550, 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 minor key
symphonies Mozart wrote.[1]

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Composition
• 2 The question of the Symphony's premiere
• 3 The music
• 4 Reception
• 5 Influence
• 6 Media
• 7 Notes
• 8 References

• 9 External links

[edit] Composition
The 40th Symphony was completed on 25 July 1788. The composition occupied an
exceptionally productive period of just a few weeks in 1788, during which time he
also completed the 39th and 41st symphonies (26 June and 10 August, respectively).[2]

[edit] The question of the Symphony's premiere

There is no completely solid documentary evidence that the premiere of the 40th
Symphony took place in Mozart's lifetime. However, as Zaslaw (1983) points out, the
circumstantial evidence that it was performed is very strong. On several occasions
between the composition of the symphony and the composer's death, symphony
concerts were given featuring Mozart's music, including concerts in which the
program has survived, including a symphony, unidentified by date or key. These
include:[3]

• 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 Tonkünstlersocietät
(Society of Musicians) April 17, 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".[4]

Most important is the fact that Mozart revised his symphony (the manuscripts of both
versions still exist).[5] 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."[6] The orchestra for the 1791 Vienna concert included the
clarinetist brothers Anton and Johann Stadler; which, as Zaslaw points out, limits the
possibilities to just the 39th and 40th symphonies.[6]

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."[7]

Concerning the concerts for which the Symphony was originally (1788) intended,
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.[2] Zaslaw suggests that only the first of the three concerts was
actually held.

[edit] The music

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

2. Andante, 6/8
3. Menuetto – Trio, 3/4
4. Allegro assai, 2/2

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 first theme is well known:

The second movement is a lyrical work in 6/8 time, in E flat major, the submediant
major of the overall G minor key of the symphony.

The minuet begins with an angry, cross-accented hemiola rhythm and a pair of three-
bar phrases; 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.

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 tonic).

[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.[8] It is thought that the opening theme of the last
movement may have inspired Beethoven in composing the third movement of his
Fifth Symphony.

[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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._40_(Mozart)

14/10/10