3 Instrumental music

The production for instrumental ensembles includes several Divertimenti, Notturni, Serenate, Cassazioni, Marches, and Dances, besides, of course, the Symphonies. Mozart's production for orchestra is written for string ensembles (like the early Divertimenti K136-138), as well as for wind instruments ensembles and the varied combinations of string and wind. The so called Gran Partita (Serenata) K361 is the most notable work written by Mozart for wind instruments. The ensemble includes 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassett horns, 4 hunting horns, 2 bassoons and double bass. Mozart left a huge production of dances for orchestra, including the genres of Minuetto (more than 100), Contredanse and Allemande (or Teitsch, or Laendler). In his production of minuets, Mozart generally followed Haydn's example, preferring the slow character of the dance. Allemandes (56 between 1787 and 1791) were written mainly for public balls in Vienna. In the Contredanse production, also written mainly in Vienna, some examples of program music are found, like Il Temporale K535, La Bataille K600, Canarino K602, etc.

4 The symphonies

According to most recent investigations, Mozart wrote 68 complete symphonies (therefore a number much higher than the 41 symphonies reported in traditional editions); the Symphony No.37 K 444 was actually composed by Michael Haydn, and Mozart wrote only the introductory movement for it. Some of the symphonies (K 297, K 385, K 550) were revised by the author after their first versions. Mozart's symphonic production covers a 24 year interval, from 1764 to 1788.

The Early symphonies (1764-1771) are written mainly in the style of the Italian overture, in three movements (Allegro-Andante-Allegro); only in a few cases was a minuet included. See Symphony No. 1 (Mozart), Symphony No. 2 (Mozart)

Three cycles of Salzburg Symphonies may be identified.

• Salzburg Symphonies 1772-73 - The eleven symphonies of this cycle, written before Mozart's third trip to Italy, may be divided into two groups: 5 Germanic concert-symphonies with minuets (K161a, K161b, K162, K162b, K173dA), each lasting around twenty to twenty-five minutes; 6 Italian ouverture style symphonies, without minuets (K135, K141a, K161a, K162, K162b, K173dA), each lasting around eight or nine minutes. None of these symphonies were printed during Mozart's lifetime.
• Salzburg Symphonies 1773-75- This symphonic cycle can also be divided in two groups, of which the most significant one includes seven Germanic concert symphonies with minuet (K183, K185, K200-204), and the second one only one symphony in the Italian style (K121), created from an opera overture. Of these symphonies, also, none were printed during Mozart's lifetime.
• Salzburg Symphonies 1775-1783 - If in the years between 1770 and 1775 Mozart created no fewer than 36 symphonies, in the following eight years only nine were composed. This may be due to general disillusionment with the Salzburg establishment as well as to the mediocre level of the instrumental ensembles that Mozart found in the town. This span of time might be reasonably considered a transition towards the years of the last great symphonies.

4.1 The post-Salzburg symphonies

Mozart arrived in Paris in 1778, in search for a position worth of his talent, that he actually did not find. Nevertheless, it was during his visit in Paris that he wrote the so called Paris Symphony (K297), that is particularly interesting for the rich and modern composition of the instrumental ensemble.

The Haffner Symphony (K385) was composed in 1782, after Mozart had finally moved to Vienna. Originally it was written as a serenade for the Haffner family (K249). He trimmed it to the four conventional symphony movements by removing its introductory march and one of its two minuets.

The Linz Symphony (K425) was written in 1783 during a journey of Mozart to that town. The Prague Symphony (K504) was composed in Vienna in 1786, after a happy time spent in Prague. It is much more difficult to perform and more advanced conceptually than any of Mozart's previous symphonies.

4.2 The final trilogy

Mozart's final trilogy of symphonies (K543, K550, K551 (Jupiter)) was completed in about three months in 1788. It is quite likely that he hoped to publish these three works together as a single opus, although actually they remained unpublished until after his death. One or two of them might have been played in public in Leipzig in 1789.

The less known and executed among these three symphonies is the K543 in E flat major , perhaps because the ideas that Mozart chose to explore in this work survive with difficulty to the translation to modern, more powerful, instruments.

The Symphony K550 in G minor is one of only three minor-mode symphonies by Mozart (the others are the Odense K16a in A minor, composed when Mozart was about 10 years old and possibly spurious, and the Little G minor K183, composed in 1773). It is by far the most frequently performed of Mozart's earlier symphonies. Its ensemble includes a particularly delicate wind instrumentation, with clarinets were added in a second revision.

The "Jupiter" Symphony K 551 (the nickname was not Mozart's, it seems to have originated in England, possibly with Johann Peter Salomon) is characterized by prominent use of trumpets and timpani in the first movement. The Andante cantabile is profoundly moving, and even in the Minuet one can hear contrapunctal complexities. The four note motif of the Finale had been used by Mozart himself many times; it is followed by a profusion of ideas woven into a sonata form movement, leading to a coda where the five principal ideas of the movement are presented contrapunctally.

5 The concertos

Though the apex of Mozart's production in the Concerto genre was reached with the Piano Concertos, already discussed above, he composed several important works for other solo instruments and orchestra. Among them, and probably unexcelled, stands the Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra K622 (1778), one of Mozart's last compositions (it was written in 1791, the year of his death). It is the first example of its kind and, in it, all the expressive and technical possibilities of the instrument are explored.

Among the other works, there are the Concerto for Harp, Flute and Orchestra K299, highly original for the connection between two so different instruments, the Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra K191 (1774) and five Concertos for Violin and Orchestra (K207-211-216-218-219), among which the last one is notable for the beauty of the melodies and the skillful use of the expressive and technical characteristics of the instrument, though probably Mozart never went through all the violin possibilities like others (e.g. Beethoven and Brahms) did after him.

Four Concertos for Horn and Orchestra (K412-417-447-495), were written in different years between 1782 and 1786, characterized by an elegant and humorous dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra.

Finally, two important works belong to the Concerto genre: the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra K. 364 (1779), with an extraordinary viola part, of which only one previous example is known by Carl Stamitz (but Mozart probably didn't know of it), and the Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Orchestra K279b (Anh.9 and later Anh. C 14.01), a beautiful composition whose authenticity is still questioned (there is no Mozart autograph).

6 Sacred music

Mozart's sacred music is mainly vocal, though also instrumental examples exist, like the Sonate da Chiesa for 2 violins, double bass and organ, composed between 1767 and 1780.

The sacred compositions corpus includes 19 masses, among them the Weisenhaus Messe in C min. K139, a number of works belonging to the Missa Brevis genre, written mainly in Salzburg (K167-192-194-195-220 (Spatzenmesse)), the Kronungsmesse K317, the Great Mass in C min. K427 (where the Credo is not completed and the Agnus Dei is missing) and Mozart's last, unfinished work, the Requiem in D min. K626, written in 1791, after an interval of eight years during which he did not compose masses at all, and completed by Franz Xavier Süssmayr after Mozart's death.

Several compositions of different kind belong to Mozart's sacred music production: among them Kyrie, Offertorii, Antiphonae, Mottetti (Exultate, Jubilate K165).

Mozart's sacred music presents a rich stylistic mosaic: gregorian choral elements meet rigorous counterpoint, and even operatic elements can sometimes emerge. Stylistic unity and consistency is present over all the sacred music works.

We include in this genre, for their liturgical character, also the compositions written for the Masonic Lodge, like The Cantata Laut Verkunde unsre Freude K623 and the Maurerische Trauermusik K477.

7 Opera

In 1767 Mozart composed his first opera, if one may thus call the scholastic musical drama Apollo et Hyacinthus (K 38). With respect to that first attempt, Bastien un Bastienne ( 1768, K 50=46b) generates a definitely different result. The young musician is already able to dominate texts and his music emanates pastoral joy and spontaneous fascination. La finta semplice ( 1768, K 51) can be considered Mozart's first - only partially achieved - approach to the Opera buffa genre.

Then, the first Italian operas were composed, upon assignments received in Milan and Salzburg: Mitridate re del Ponto ( 1770, K 87), Ascanio in Alba ( 1771, K 111), Il sogno di Scipione ( 1772, K 126), Lucio Silla ( 1772, K 135). In all of these works, Mozart still shows some awkwardness while moving in the traditional Opera seria frame. The librettos are often dramatically weak and improbable. Nevertheless, one can find in these works some unambiguously Mozartian distinguishing marks, though the weight, substance and formal perfection of the older Mozart are still lacking.

With La finta giardiniera (1774-75, K 196), Mozart comes back to the opera buffa, outranging all previous models of that genre. The libretto is still weak, but characters are not schematic anymore and become real individuals, with music definitely contributing to their definition.

Le nozze di Figaro, the first of the three great operatic works, all belonging to the opera buffa genre (though the Don Giovanni obviously involves tragic elements), that Mozart composed with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, was preceded by some unfinished fragments ( Zaide (1779, K344), L'oca del Cairo (1783, K422)), and by the music drama Il re pastore (1775, K208) and the comedy Der Schauspieldirektor (1786, K486). Le nozze di Figaro (1786, K492), was taken from the comedy Le marriage de Figaro by Pierre Beaumarchais, a work that was hardly accepted - and performed - in France, due to its denunciation contents against the flaws of the higher dominating classes ( Clergy and Aristocracy), opposed to the healthy activism of the Third Estate. In Austria, too, Mozart's opera met the opposition of the imperial court, though it should be said that Da Ponte had purged the most shocking aspects from the original text. Actually, the opera was executed during the Spring of 1786 at the Vienna Burgtheater, with enormous success.

The trilogy of Da Ponte librettos continued with Don Giovanni (1787, K527) and Cosi fan tutte (1789, K588), both dealing - but in highly different ways - with the subject of love between men and women.

In his mature years, Mozart composed two important works belonging to the opera seria genre: Idomeneo re di Creta (1780, K366), and La clemenza di Tito, (1791, K621).

After many years from his debut in the german music drama ( Singspiel), Mozart came back to this genre with Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782, K384) and, finally, with Die Zauberflöte (1791, K620). Die Zauberflöte has been criticized for the absurdities of its libretto (by Emanuel Schikaneder ), that was probably rehandled several times. It also achieved scarce success at its first performance. Nevertheless its music proposes elements of great brightness and spirituality, with the composition of sacred and profane love in unique delight.

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