Symphony No. 40 ( Mozart ) - wikipedia Symphony No. 40 ( Mozart ) Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV. 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. Contents 1 Composition 2 Premiere 3 The music 4 Reception 5 Influence 6 First recording 7 Media 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links Composition The date of completion of this symphony is known exactly, since Mozart in his mature years kept a full catalog of his completed works ; he entered the 40th Symphony into it on 25 July 1788. Work on the symphony occupied an exceptionally productive period of just a few weeks during which time he also completed the 39th and 41st symphonies ( 26 June and 10 August, respectively ). Nikolaus Harnoncourt conjectured that Mozart composed the three symphonies as a unified work, pointing, among other things, to the 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. 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. 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. 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 eternity ''. 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. 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 : 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 ) 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 ''. 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 ''. 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. 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 ''. 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. Zaslaw suggests that only the first of the three concerts was actually held. The 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 ) : Molto allegro, Andante, Menuetto. Allegretto -- Trio, Finale. Allegro assai, 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 last piano concerto ( KV. 595 ) and later became a favourite 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. The second movement is a lyrical work in time. It is in the subdominant key of the relative major of G minor ( B ♭ major ) : E ♭ major. The contrapuntal opening bars of this movement appear thus in keyboard reduction : 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 labelled `` 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 opens with a series of rapidly ascending notes outlining the tonic triad illustrating what is commonly referred to as the Mannheim rocket. 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 destabilising the key, occurs at the beginning of the development section. The single note left out is in fact a G ( the tonic ). The symphony typically has a duration of about 25 minutes. 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. Influence Ludwig van Beethoven knew the symphony well, copying out 29 bars from the score in one of his sketchbooks. 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 above ). Franz Schubert likewise copied down the music of Mozart 's minuet, and the minuet of his Fifth Symphony strongly evokes Mozart 's. 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. 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. 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. 1st movement Molto allegro 2nd movement Andante 3rd movement Menuetto, Allegretto - Trio 4th movement Allegro assai Problems playing these files ? See media help. Notes Jump up ^ A possible exception is the so - called `` Odense Symphony '', whose attribution to Mozart is doubtful ; see Mozart symphonies of spurious or doubtful authenticity. Jump up ^ Heartz 2009, p. 207. ^ Jump up to : Deutsch 1965, p. 320. Jump up ^ Clements, Andrew ( 23 July 2014 ). `` Mozart : The Last Symphonies review -- a thrilling journey through a tantalising new theory ''. The Guardian. Jump up ^ Zaslaw 1983, p. 10. Jump up ^ See Zaslaw ( 1983, p. 10 ), Swafford ( 1997, p. 287 ), and ( 1 ). Jump up ^ For discussion of claims of this sort, see Zaslaw 1994 ; the quotation from Einstein is taken from this source. Jump up ^ 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 ), currently available on line at ( 2 ). 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 Baron Wanswiten 's rooms, he had to leave the room during the performance because it was being played so incorrectly ''. Jump up ^ List from Zaslaw 1983. Jump up ^ The text of the poster is given in Deutsch 1965, p. 393. ^ Jump up to : Zaslaw 1983, p. 9. Jump up ^ Zaslaw 1983, 9 -- 10. Jump up ^ 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 ''. Jump up ^ Burnett 1967, p. 33. Jump up ^ Rosen 1997, p. 334. Jump up ^ Hopkins 1981. Jump up ^ Nottebohm 1887, p. 531. Jump up ^ Zaslaw and Cowdery 1990, p. 210. Jump up ^ See No. 38, the aria `` Erblicke hier, bethörter Mensch ''. Source : Zaslaw and Cowdery 1990, p. 210 ). Jump up ^ `` Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony in G Minor ''. Discography of American Historical Recordings. References 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. Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press. Heartz, Daniel ( 2009 ). Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven, 1781 -- 1802. New York : W.W. Norton & Company. Extracts on line at Google Books : ( 3 ). Hopkins, Antony ( 1981 ). The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven. Heineman. James, Burnett ( 1967 ). An Adventure in Music. London : Baker. Retrieved 25 September 2016. Nottebohm, Gustav ( 1887 ). Zweite Beethoviana. Leipzig : C.F. Peters. Available on line : ( 4 ) Rosen, Charles ( 1997 ). The Classical Style : Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, expanded edition. New York and London : W.W. Norton & Company. Passage quoted may be viewed on line at Google Books : ( 5 ). Schoenberg, Arnold ( 1954, rvs. 1969 ). Structural Functions of Harmony. New York : W.W. Norton & Company. Analyzes the wide - ranging development sections of both outer movements at some length. 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, and William Cowdery ( 1990 ). The Compleat Mozart : A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. New York : W.W. Norton & Company. Extracts cited are viewable online at Google Books : ( 6 ). External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Symphony No. 40 ( Mozart ). Versions of the score : Sinfonie in g minor K. 550 ( 1st version ) : Score and critical report ( in German ) in the Neue Mozart - Ausgabe Sinfonie in g minor K. 550 ( 2nd version ) : Score in the Neue Mozart - Ausgabe Symphony No. 40 : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project ( IMSLP ) Kalmus miniature editions, 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 : Symphony No. 40 The apartment where Mozart wrote his last three Symphonies : Michael Lorenz, `` Mozart 's Apartment on the Alsergrund '' Article online Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Biography Biographies Birthplace Grand tour Name Nationality Scatology Smallpox Italy Berlin Prague Death Music Köchel catalogue List of compositions Concert arias, songs, canons Dances Horn concertos Masses Operas Piano concertos Works for solo piano Sonatas Symphonies Compositional method Family Leopold Mozart Anna Maria Mozart Maria Anna Mozart ( Nannerl ) Constanze Mozart Maria Anna Thekla Mozart ( Bäsle ) Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart Karl Thomas Mozart Johann Georg Mozart Joseph Lange Cäcilia Weber Josepha Weber Aloysia Weber Sophie Weber Georg Nissen Family trees Influences Beethoven Catholic Church Freemasonry Haydn Salieri Related Mozart in popular culture Book Symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Unnumbered K. 16a ( Odense ) K. 19a K. 45a ( Old Lambach ) K. 76 K. 45b K. 74g K. 81 K. 95 K. 97 K. 75 K. 98 K. 111 + 120 K. 96 K. 161 K. 135 + 61h K. 196 + 121 K. 208 + 102 Numbered No. 1 ( K. 16 ) No. 2 ( K. 17 ) No. 3 ( K. 18 ) No. 4 ( K. 19 ) No. 5 ( K. 22 ) No. 6 ( K. 43 ) No. 7 ( K. 45 ) No. 8 ( K. 48 ) No. 9 ( K. 73 ) No. 10 ( K. 74 ) No. 11 ( K. 84 ) No. 12 ( K. 110 ) No. 13 ( K. 112 ) No. 14 ( K. 114 ) No. 15 ( K. 124 ) No. 16 ( K. 128 ) No. 17 ( K. 129 ) No. 18 ( K. 130 ) No. 19 ( K. 132 ) No. 20 ( K. 133 ) No. 21 ( K. 134 ) No. 22 ( K. 162 ) No. 23 ( K. 181 ) No. 24 ( K. 182 ) No. 25 ( K. 183 ) No. 26 ( K. 184 ) No. 27 ( K. 199 ) No. 28 ( K. 200 ) No. 29 ( K. 201 ) No. 30 ( K. 202 ) No. 31 ( K. 297, Paris ) No. 32 ( K. 318 ) No. 33 ( K. 319 ) No. 34 ( K. 338 ) No. 35 ( K. 385, Haffner ) No. 36 ( K. 425, Linz ) No. 37 ( K. 444 ) No. 38 ( K. 504, Prague ) No. 39 ( K. 543 ) No. 40 ( K. 550 ) No. 41 ( K. 551, Jupiter ) Lost K. 19b K. 66c K. 66d K. 66e K. Anh. C 11.07 K. Anh. C 11.08 No. 2 now attributed to Leopold Mozart. No. 3 now attributed to Carl Friedrich Abel. No. 37 now attributed to Michael Haydn. List of symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart List of spurious / doubtful Mozart symphonies LCCN : n81018421 GND : 300111150 BNF : cb13915276b ( data ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Symphony_No._40_(Mozart)&oldid=825476175 '' Categories : Symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1788 compositions Compositions in G minor Hidden categories : All articles with specifically marked weasel - worded phrases Articles with specifically marked weasel - worded phrases from September 2016 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016 Articles with hAudio microformats Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from September 2016 Articles with German - language external links Works with IMSLP links Articles with International Music Score Library Project links Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Deutsch Español Français 한국어 Հայերեն Italiano עברית ქართული Magyar Mirandés Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Русский Slovenščina Suomi Svenska ไทย Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 17 more Edit links This page was last edited on 13 February 2018, at 16 : 41. 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Question: what is the form of mozart symphony no 40
Answer: G minor; minor key symphonies