5th symphony (Mozart)

The Symphony in B flat major Köchelverzeichnis  22 is a classical symphony in three movements by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from the year 1765. According to the counting method of the Old Mozart Edition, it bears the number 5.

History of origin

The young Mozart in 1763

Actually, after their stay in England, the Mozarts wanted to travel directly to Paris. Due to the insistent requests of a Dutch envoy and probably also because of the good prospects for income, Leopold Mozart was persuaded to make a detour via The Hague. The Mozarts stayed here from September 1765 to April 1766 and gave various concerts. In addition to the London symphonies ( KV 16 , KV 19 , KV 19a, KV 19b), KV 22 was performed, which Mozart composed in The Hague in December 1765. The occasion was probably a concert on January 22nd, 1766. The term “symphony” was not as firmly established then as it is today, for example KV 22 was announced in the leaflets of 1765 as an overture .

“On September 10th, after great exertion, they finally reached The Hague, checked into a watchmaker and gave the first concert at the court of the Netherlands two days later, but without Nannerl: She collapsed after arrival and could no longer perform. She was doing very badly. The doctors wondered: was it the smallpox? No, apparently she was suffering from typhus. Leopold Mozart: “I saw my daughter lose weight every day; she now had nothing more than skin and bones ... The doctor himself had no more hope. ”Father and mother tried to prepare the patient for death in long conversations, and to tell them“ of the vanity of this world, of the blissful death of children ” convince, "since Wolfgangl was talking to his music in the other room." He was not allowed to visit the sister because of the risk of infection and was composing his third symphony during this time. "

A member of the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg Orchestra, Georg Anton Kreusser, probably heard or even performed KV 22, because he used the beginning of the first movement for his own symphony in E flat major op.5 No. 4.

To the music

Instrumentation: two oboes , two horns in Bb, two violins , viola , cello , double bass . To reinforce the bass voice, it was customary at the time to use a bassoon and a harpsichord without separate notation (if available in the orchestra) .

Performance time: approx. 8 minutes.

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

B flat major, 4/4 time, 98 bars

The opening theme is characterized by leads, accents, trills and movement in sixths :

It is underlaid with a 14 bar organ point on B flat, which was widespread across Western Europe around 1765 (in the style of the Mannheim Symphony Orchestra). After the short crescendo up to the forte and chord strokes, a passage begins in the dominant F major, which slows down the movement just reached by accents and pauses. From bar 23 the movement flows again in the form of a dialogue between the violins. In the following section the tremolo of the violins is underlaid by a bass movement. Such a structure can be found e.g. B. also at KV 19 , KV 43 and KV 73 .

After the final group from bars 39 to 46, which again takes up the motif from the first topic, the second part of the sentence follows, which leads the introductory theme through F minor and C minor. In the transition to the second theme (bars 65 to 72), Mozart changes effectively from minor to major. The second theme then begins in bar 73 in B flat major. The further course essentially corresponds to that in the first part.

Second movement: Andante

G minor, 2/4 time, 57 bars

The following structure is suggested for the sentence:

• A part (bars 1 - 10): symmetrically structured motif in G minor (four bars that are repeated once) with a fifth, followed by two bars with falling unison (“sighs”);

• B-part (bars 10-21): sequenced, new motif with characteristic prelude (sixth, fifth, fourth) with staggered inserts of the two violins; Change from C minor to B flat major;
• A part (bars 22 - 31): As above, but now in the parallel tonic in B flat major, ending again with a short, falling unison;
• B 'part (bars 31 - 37): small section with a modification of the motif of the B part, also ends with a short falling unison, B flat major;
• A part (bars 38 - 45): like bars 1 - 10, but without the unison end, G minor;
• B-part (bars 45-50): like bars 10-15, C minor;
• C part or coda (bars 51–57): exhale the movement with an alternation between C minor and G minor.

Neal Zaslaw emphasizes the “astonishing intensity of musical gestures” and probably means the “melancholy” chromatics and the structural imitations that occur in the B parts.

Third movement: Allegro molto

B flat major, 3/8 time, 97 bars

This rather stormy finale in rondo form shows the typical "Kehraus" character of the time and thus forms a contrast to the gloomy timbre of the second movement.

• A part: bars 1–20: chorus , simple melody based on a B flat major triad and powerful B flat major chords. The melody is repeated from bars 11-20. It recalls the introduction of the quartet “Signore, die fuori son già i suonatori” from the finale of the second act of the Marriage of Figaro .

• B part: bars 21–30: short section with the character of an interlude.
• A section: bars 31–50.
• C-part: bars 51-66: short section with upward - downward movement first in C, then in F, also more interplay-like character.
• A section: bars 67–86.
• Coda : bars 87–97: two stops on E-flat (dominant) in the piano, which are resolved by runs in unison in Bb (tonic).

Individual references, comments

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Neal Zaslaw: Mozart's earliest symphonies. Symphony in B flat major, KV 22 (No. 5). 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. ↑ means KV 22
3. ↑ Brigitte Hamann: Nothing but music in the head. The life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ueberreuter, Vienna 1990. ISBN 978-3-8000-2321-9 .

Web links, notes

• Symphony in B flat major KV 22 : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
• Symphony No. 5 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sinfonia in sie bem, K. 22. PR 626, Ricordi-Verlag, Milan 1979 (pocket score).

See also

• List of symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart