35th Symphony (Mozart)

The symphony in D major Köchelverzeichnis 385 was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna in 1782. According to the Old Mozart Edition, the symphony has the number 35. It is also called the "Haffner Symphony" according to the history of its creation.

Emergence

Mozart with sister Maria Anna ("Nannerl") and father Leopold, on the wall a portrait of their deceased mother, Anna Maria. Painting by Johann Nepomuk della Croce, around 1780

On the occasion of the award of the nobility title "Edler von Innbachhausen" to Sigmund Haffner the Elder . J. , humanist and son of the Salzburg mayor Sigmund Haffner the Elder. Ä. , a serenade was commissioned by an unknown person through Leopold Mozart from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Six years earlier, Mozart had already composed the “Haffner Serenade” (Köchel catalog 250) on the occasion of the wedding of Sigmund Haffner's (d. J.) sister Marie Elisabeth.

In letters Leopold Mozart pressured his son to finally send the work to Salzburg. However, in addition to working on the serenade in C minor, Wolfgang was also involved in Köchelverzeichnis (KV) 388 a. a. in the process of setting up his opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail for wind instruments. In addition, his marriage to Constanze Weber was imminent on August 4, 1782. Piece by piece he sent the work, which was apparently composed in a hurry, to his father. "My heart is restless, my head is confused," wrote Wolfgang on July 27, 1782 in the letter to which the first sentence was already attached.

A few months later, Wolfgang asks his father to send the work back from Salzburg: “And that if you find an opportunity, you would be kind enough to send me the New Symphony that I wrote for you for Hafner; if I only have it until the fasting, because I would like to do it in my Accademie ”(letter of December 21, 1782).

Then Leopold takes his time: Only on February 15, 1783, Wolfgang confirms receipt of the work in a letter and then says with surprise that he had completely forgotten it: “... The New Haffner Symphony surprised me - then I didn't know a word more of that; - it must have a good effect ... "" "

It is noticeable that Mozart refers to the work in the letters as “symphony” instead of “serenade”, which suggests that the generic terms were not yet defined at the time. For the Viennese performance, Mozart added flutes and clarinets to the first and fourth movements and left out the march and one of the minuets. In this symphony form, in which it has been handed down to this day, the work was performed on March 23, 1783 in Vienna in the sold-out Burgtheater .

Alfred Einstein (1953) thinks that the symphony still has a serenade-like character: it is “in reality nothing more than a second Haffner serenade”. It works best as the beginning or end of an academy . This is how it was used, at least in part: At the premiere (in symphony form) on March 23, 1783, the first three movements of KV 385 formed the first part of the program, the fourth movement the final piece. The "dismemberment" of a symphony or other work was quite common at the time in the three to four hour "academies". This makes it clear that “the idea of ​​the work as a whole was not yet self-evident. (…) The concept of the work of art as a unified, sacrosanct structure, whose dignity should not be touched, did not yet exist. "

To the music

Instrumentation: two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , two horns , two trumpets , timpani , violins I / II, viola , cello , double bass . Clarinets and flutes are only used in the first and fourth movements. In contemporary orchestras, a harpsichord (if available in the orchestra) was probably used as a continuo .

Performance time: around 20 minutes.

With the terms of the sonata form used here, it should be noted that this scheme was designed in the first half of the 19th century (see there) and can therefore only be transferred to the Symphony KV 385 with restrictions. 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.

Mozart wrote in a letter to his father dated August 7, 1782: “The First Allegro must be quite fiery. - the last [meaning the fourth sentence] - as fast as it is possible. "

First movement: Allegro con spirito

D Major, ² / ₂ -stroke (alla breve), 204 cycles

The movement begins with the fanfare-like, strong theme (similar to KV 297 ), which has several peculiarities: It is five bars (not, as is usually the case, symmetrical), is performed in forte and unison, with the energetic character still being immediately through a drum roll is amplified at the beginning, and it contains large interval jumps ( octaves ). There is also a second motif with dotted rhythm and trills. After a short general pause, the strings play a somewhat hesitant follow-up on the piano.

The following first variant of the main theme from bar 13 is followed by a paragraph-like section with runs of the violins, from bar 23 further runs and tremolo follow as a transition to the next appearance of the main theme. The second variant (dominant A major) contrasts with the original shape at the beginning of the sentence with its piano and soft timbre. First the violins, then the viola, cello and double bass play the main theme, but “reduced” to an octave jump, accompanied by the running eighth figure in the bass or tremolo of the violins. The third variant follows from bars 48 to 58 , with the viola leading the voice, accompanied by the violins with a downward sequenced figure. The 4th variant follows without interruption from bars 58 to 65 : The theme is presented in the upper parts as an inversion (i.e. interval upwards becomes interval downwards), underlaid by a striding bass movement. The section from bar 66 to the end of the exposition in bar 94 can be regarded as a coda . It contains runs, tremolo and, in bars 80 to 84, a new motif in the bass with a characteristic octave jump downwards.

At the beginning of the implementation of the tone changes with the polyphonic fifth variant first time in D Minor, after initially an eight-bar pedal has remained at A still "undecided" in the piano. The contrast is all the stronger with the use of the main theme in F sharp major forte in 1st violin and bass, accompanied by the tremolo of the other strings or chords of the wind instruments ("wind instruments"). The section from bars 116 to 128 has a particularly strong polyphony, with the theme being offset every fifth. "The starting notes of the motto do not match the fundamental notes of the respective underlying sounds, but always form the minor seventh of the harmony from m. 119, so that a chain of dominant seventh chords results, which approaches the fundamental key from a great distance ( from bar 119: C # 7 - F # 7 - B7 - E7 - A7). “The D major of the recapitulation that begins in bar 129 with the main theme then functions as the target harmony.

The structure of the recapitulation largely corresponds to the exposition, but the second variant is missing. A (further) coda from bars 198 to 204 with runs in the violins ends the movement.

Alfred Einstein (1953) thinks that the head motif has "something ostentatious and accentuated, it is as if it itself always refers to its usability and use." Wolfgang Gersthofer (2007) writes: "Works with all contrapuntal approaches and all combinatory sophistication ( ...) KV 385 I never taught; The motto naturally finds its way through the sentence. "

Second movement: Andante

G Major, ² / ₄ -stroke, 84 cycles

The first topic has a symmetrical structure with four bars each of the antecedent and subsequent clause. The 1st violin leads the melody, accompanied by the other strings and winds, whereby the continuous sixteenth-note movement in the staccato of the 2nd violin is noticeable. The antecedent remains in the tonic G major, while the subsequent clause, which is provided with suggestions and trills, briefly changes to the subdominant C major. This is followed by a transition to the second theme up to bar 16, which is characterized by interrupted running figures of the violins and clockwork-like, broken triad figures of the bassoon.

The second theme (bars 17-22) begins after a full-bar sixteenth “tremolo” of the 1st violin on A in bar 16, which then vigorously “ticks” this tone in the other four bars of the theme, while the 2nd violin and the viola play a separate motif that is somewhat reminiscent of the figure from the transition. Until the end of the exposition in bar 35, the harmony moves on the D major seventh chord, which changes from bar 31 via A major to D major (without a seventh). Bars 33–35 with their own small motif can be viewed as coda.

In the middle section, a slightly melancholy soundscape spreads out with syncopation in D major and A major, which merges into a section with a new trill motif from bar 42. The recapitulation from bar 50 is structured similarly to the exposition. The exposition, development and recapitulation are repeated.

Theodor Kroyer sees popular traits in this sentence: “The serenadic cheerfulness reveals itself in the prancing violin figures, which, as in a secret dialogue, spin the melody and carry it on.” Alfred Einstein (1953) describes the andante as “very graceful” and “innocent” ", But then thinks that it rather points back to the second movement of the Paris symphony " than forward to the immortal perfect of the Prague . "Kurt Pahlen (1978) wants to hear" the beating of the heart in a deeply moving experience "in the Andante , and Volker Scherliess (2005) is reminded of “the play of several people on the opera stage” through the appearance of different “motivic figures”.

Third movement: Menuetto

D Major, ³ / ₄ ¯ clock, with 52 clocks Trio

The powerful minuet begins forte throughout the orchestra with an ascending D major triad underlaid by the drum roll, which is answered by a descending piano figure via G major, A major and finally D major again. Fanfares or overtures continue in the second part of the minuet, with the main harmony only moving between the tonic in D major and the dominant in A major.

The trio in A major contrasts with the main part with its soft timbre in the piano and the vocal melody in the strings. Sometimes the use of chromatics is noticeable, e.g. B. in bar 44, where the transition is made from B (fifth of the dominant E major) via His to C sharp (third of the tonic A major).

Alfred Einstein (1953) says: “The most outstanding movement is the minuet, which in D major already says roughly what the minuet of the E flat major symphony will say later : firmness, festivity, masculinity in the main part, the finest grace in the trio. "Theodor Kroyer writes:" From the minuet, even more clearly from the trio, the Wiener Lied sings, a love quatrain to which the words could easily be assigned. "

Fourth movement: Presto

D Major, ² / ₂ -stroke (alla breve), 264 cycles

The first theme with a symmetrical structure is initially only presented by the strings in the piano. The antecedent shows u. a. a characteristic fourth downward leap, the trailer a restless eighth note movement. The following Fortel block contains chord melodies, runs and drum rolls. In bar 37, E major is reached, which leads dominantly to the second theme in A major. This is again built up symmetrically; it is repeated from bar 46 in a slightly different form (flute accompaniment, continuous eighth note movement of the 2nd violin). Up to the end of the exposition in bar 70, there is a final section with syncopation, energetic tone repetition and chord melodies.

The development begins as a transition section, which surprisingly leads to the first theme in bar 80, so that the listener initially remains unclear whether this passage (bars 71 to 79) has already been the entire development. However, through a piano echo in bar 90 and changed harmonies from bar 92 it becomes clear that the development is not yet over and that the previous use of the first theme was a sham. The exposition takes place again with other harmonies, e.g. B. from bar 110 the second theme appears in the tonic parallel in B minor.

The actual recapitulation begins after a return (bars 131 to 138) in bar 139 and represents a varied third run of the exposition (e.g. vocal leading of the oboe in the repetition of the first theme, bars 190 ff). Mozart again closes the movement as a coda in which the first theme has its final appearance; after a “bend into b” (bar 239), the chord melody and drum roll end the movement.

Several authors point out that this “fiery” movement has echoes of Osmin's aria “Ha, how do I want to triumph” from The Abduction from the Seraglio .

Others

After the “Haffner Symphony”, the publicist Raimund Pretzel chose his pseudonym “ Sebastian Haffner ” in 1938 , under which he became known.

Individual references, comments

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Volker Scherliess : The symphonies. In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-7618-2021-6
2. ^ Konrad Küster: Mozart's late symphonies. Text contribution to: Mozart - The Symphonies. Complete recording of the English Concert, conducted by Trevor Pinnock; Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg 1994.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Theodor Kroyer: WA Mozart: Symphony D major K.-V. No. 385 (Haffner). Preface to the pocket score edition. Ernst Eulenburg Ltd. No. 437, London / Zurich no year 72 pp.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Wolfgang Gersthofer: The symphonies KV 385 ("Haffner"), KV 425 ("Linzer") and KV 504 ("Prager"). 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. 69-93.
5. ↑ Ludwig Schiedermair: The letters of WA Mozart and his family. 5 volumes, volume 2. Munich / Leipzig 1914, pp. 199–201 ( online at Zeno.org .).
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Alfred Einstein: Mozart - His character, his work. Pan-Verlag, Zurich / Stuttgart 1953, 553 pp.
7. ^ Neal Zaslaw: Mozart's Symphonies. Context, performance practice, reception. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1989, 617 pp.
8. ↑ This applies in particular to the first movement with its echoes of a variation form.
9. ↑ What is meant is the main topic
10. ↑ The repetitions of the parts of the sentence are not observed in some recordings.
11. ^ ^{A b} Kurt Pahlen: Symphony of the World. Schweizer Verlagshaus AG, Zurich 1966/1978.

Web links, notes

• Manuscript in the Morgan Library New York: Morgan Library New York: Haffner Symphony manuscript
• Symphony in D K. 385 : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
• 35th Symphony (Mozart) : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony in D major KV 385 Haffner. Philharmonia No. 51, Universal-Edition, Vienna / London without year, 52 p. (Pocket score).
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony D major K.-V. No. 385 (Haffner). Edition Eulenburg No. 437, Ernst Eulenburg Ltd., London / Zurich without year, 72 pages (pocket score).
• W. Meves: Symphonies de WA Mozart. Collection Litolff No. 168. Henry Litolff's Verlag, Braunschweig without a year (edition from approx. 1890, including a version of the symphony KV 385 for piano for two hands)

See also

• List of symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart