1st symphony (Mozart)

The Symphony in E flat major, K. 16 , composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the year 1764/65. According to the Old Mozart Edition, the symphony bears the number 1, although it is unclear whether it is really Mozart's first symphony.

General

The young Mozart in 1763

The Mozarts had been in London since April 1764. The family's health was affected by the severe demands. Sister Maria Anna ("Nannerl") reports on the conditions in which Wolfgang's first symphony was created after Mozart's death:

“On the 5th of August they had to rent a country house in Chelsea, in addition to the city of London, so that the father could recover from a dangerous sore throat, which brought him almost on the verge of death (...) when our father was sick to the death, we were allowed don't touch a piano. So to keep himself occupied, Mozart composed his first symphony with all instruments - mainly with trumpets and timpani. I had to copy them down while sitting next to him. As he composed and I copied, he said to me: Remember that I give the French horn something to do! "

It is possible that KV 16 is not Mozart's first, but only the first surviving symphony. The autograph is in Wolfgang's handwriting, while Nannerl reports that she helped her brother write it down (see above). Due to numerous changes to the work, however, an excess of the corrections may have caused Wolfgang to make the present copy, following a contemporary practice according to which the trumpet and timpani parts were sometimes noted separately and then circulated without these parts - this would explain the lack of the trumpets and timpani mentioned by Nannerl. This could also be supported by the fact that E flat major developed into a trumpet key preferred by Mozart. But the envelope, which contained the autograph individual parts of the symphony KV 19, bears notices in Leopold's handwriting that he first wrote for the parts of a symphony in F major (probably KV 19a) and then for a symphony in C major (probably KV 19b ) served, no remarks about a symphony in E flat major. It is therefore possible that the first symphony mentioned by Nannerl is not identical to KV 16, but sketches for the first symphony could be contained in the London sketchbook. It is also conceivable that Nannerl also embellished the line-up of the symphony (ie the trumpets and timpani) a little in memory.

The first performance of KV 16 took place on February 21, 1765, another performance at the London Mozart's farewell concert on May 13, 1765. All of the symphonies played here (in addition to KV 16 probably also KV 19 , KV 19a and possibly KV 19b) were still called " Overtures " announced.

During this time, Leopold's father had his son study symphonies by well-known contemporaries (e.g. Carl Friedrich Abel , Johann Christian Bach , JG Eckard, Hermann Friedrich Raupach ). Wolfgang did this u. a. in that he completely copied a symphony by Abel in E flat major and made another symphony (KV 19) based on this model. More than 100 years later, this copy was included as a symphony KV 18 in the Mozart work edition published by Breitkopf & Härtel .

In the first symphonies (KV 16, KV 19 , KV 19a , KV 22 ) Mozart initially used the three-movement Italian form. A few four-movement works followed shortly afterwards in Vienna (e.g. KV 43 , KV 45 , KV 48 ).

Anyone wanting to make a comparison between Mozart's first traditional and the last symphony KV 551 should include the respective context. KV 16 differs only slightly in scope, complexity and originality from the models of the time, v. a. the symphonies of Opus 3 by Johann Christian Bach and Opus 7 by Christian Ferdinand Abel.

To the music

Instrumentation: two oboes , two horns in Eb, violins I / II, viola , cello , double bass . In contemporary orchestras it was also customary to use bassoon and harpsichord (if available in the orchestra) to reinforce the bass voice or as a continuo , even without separate notation .

Performance time : approx. 10 minutes (depending on the tempo and adherence to the repetitions).

With the terms used here based on the sonata form, it should be noted that this scheme was designed in the first half of the 19th century (see there) and can therefore only be applied to this symphony with restrictions. Sentences 1 and 2 correspond even more to the two-part form, in which the second part of the sentence is viewed as a modified iteration of the first ("exposure"). - The description and structure of the sentences given here is to be understood as a suggestion. Depending on the point of view, other delimitations and interpretations are also possible.

First movement: Allegro molto

E flat major, 4/4 time, 120 bars

The movement opens as an E flat major - triad fanfare of the whole orchestra in unison and forte, followed by a contrasting, cadenza-like series ( tonic -  subdominant  - dominant ) from advances in the piano (main theme or first theme):

The repetition of these 11 bars leads into the following tremolo section with grinder figures and “drum bass” on Eb. In bar 30 the action comes to rest on the dominant B flat major. This is followed by the “second theme” in the piano: At first the winds are silent while the violins play a motif with a dotted rhythm. From bar 35 the entire orchestra starts, first with syncopation in the first violin, then with a new motif, which in turn has a dotted rhythm. The final group (bars 45 ff.) Is characterized by tremolo in the violins, ascending runs in the bass and a motif with thirds and trills (bars 53 ff.).

At the beginning of the second part of the sentence, the first theme is introduced in the dominant B flat major and then in the tonic parallel in C minor. The subsequent tremolo passage from the exposition then changes from C major via B major to the tonic in E flat major, with which the “second theme” begins in bar 93. The rest of the sentence structurally corresponds to the first part. The second part of the sentence is also repeated.

A detailed description of the sentence can be found in Volker Scherliess .

Second movement: Andante

C minor, 2/4 time, 50 bars

The movement consists of two parts, each of which is repeated: bars 1 to 22 and bars 23 to 50. The main motif is an ascending and descending gait movement in the bass of five tones in staccato . Sixteenth- note triplets from the violins (also in staccato) and full-time half notes from the oboes and horns are placed above it. In the violins, dissonant seconds are sometimes heard on the first quarter , which dissolve into thirds on the second quarter . The following sheet music example shows the first 6 bars in oboes and 1st violin:

Mozart modulates in the course of the first part a. a. after G major, E flat major, B flat major and F minor, in the second part also after A flat major. Only the section from bars 29 to 34 loosens the almost minimalist structure of the movement by breaking up the even repetition of the violins with falling triads. This section with a short forte (the only one in the movement) ends on the dominant G in pianissimo. This is followed by a “recapitulation” from bar 35 with the main motif in C minor, initially only orchestrated for the violins and bass. The section from bars 35 to 41 is repeated (bars 42 to 48). The movement ends with chords in C minor.

The special timbre of this movement is achieved by

• the “minimalist” structure (the movement is based on a very simple bass motif);
• Dissonances in the evenly flowing movement of the violins;
• There are also dissonances in the sparingly but effectively used winds with their half notes over the flowing movement of the strings.

"The two-part Andante, with the sustained tones of the wind instruments, the mysterious violin and viola triplets in connection with the stealthy duoles of the basses, very successfully conveys the impression of accompanying music to a secret nightly rendezvous scene in a contemporary opera."

The movement contains a v in the horn (e.g. bar 7 ff.) a. Four -tone motif known from the finale of Mozart's last symphony KV 551 . It can also be found in other composers (e.g. in the Gradus ad Parnassum by Johann Joseph Fux and in the final movement of Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 13 ); Mozart himself later used it e.g. B. also in the symphony KV 319 and the masses KV 192 and 257.

Third movement: Presto

E flat major, 3/8 time, 153 bars

The final movement, a rondo with two couplets , has, as is usual for symphonies of the time, a “sweep” character. According to Neal Zaslaw, "the character of the refrain (...) is decidedly diatonic , but the episodes are amusingly filled with piquant chromatic dabs in the latest, most gallant style." The movement consists of the following parts:

• Presentation of the refrain (triad motif) in the forte (bars 1 to 16);
• Couplet 1 with three smaller motifs, two of them with chromaticism, which are each repeated once, the last motif with energetic accents in octaves (bars 17 to 61);
• Refrain (bars 62 to 77);
• Repetition of couplet 1 (bars 78 to 122), then a short new part (like a transition to the refrain, bars 123-134);
• Refrain with final chords (bars 134 to 153).

Beginning of the chorus in unison:

Individual references, comments

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Neal Zaslaw: Mozart's earliest symphonies. Symphony in E flat major, KV 16 (No. 1). Text contribution to: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Early Symphonies 1764–1771 , German translation by Henning Weber from 1982. Recording by the Academy of Ancient Music ; Concertmaster Jaap Schröder, continuo: Christopher Hogwood. Decca Record, London 1986.
2. ^ Neal Zaslaw: Mozart's Symphonies. Context, performance practice, reception. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1989.
3. ^ Wolfgang Gersthofer: Symphonies KV 16-134. In: Joachim Brügge, Claudia Maria Knispel (Ed.): The Mozart Handbook, Volume 1: Mozart's orchestral works and concerts. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2007, ISBN 3-8900-7461-8 , pp. 15-27.
4. ↑ ^{a b} The repetitions of the parts of the sentence are not kept in some recordings.
5. ↑ Volker Scherliess: The symphonies. In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-7618-2021-6 , p. 268 f.

Web links, notes

• Symphony No. 1 in E flat major, K. 16 : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
• Symphony No. 1 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sinfonia in mi bem, K. 16. PR 624, Ricordi-Verlag, Milan 1987 (pocket score).

See also

• List of symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart