Symphony KV 76 (Mozart)

The Symphony in F major Köchelverzeichnis 76 is a classical symphony in four movements that may have been composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .

General

Mozart in 1770

There is no autograph of this symphony . The only source was a set of parts from the archive of the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel , which was destroyed in the Second World War.

• In his Mozart biography Otto Jahn refers to the discovery of 20 symphonies ascribed to Mozart from the Breitkopf & Härtel archive. Köchel followed this view and saw KV 76 as an authentic work by Mozart. Jahn's attribution to Mozart is based on the “Mozartiana Collection” by Johann Andrés, which contains ten of the 20 works and was therefore considered to be genuine because they came directly from Mozart's widow. Two other of these works are symphonic versions of the overtures to Lucio Silla KV 135 and Il sogno di Scipione KV 126, so the remaining eight pieces could also be authentic. Jahn dated KV 76 with “177?”, While Köchel dated “maybe 1769”.
• Wyzewa and Saint-Foix (1912), however, date the symphony between December 1, 1766 and March 1, 1767 and inferred from the alleged similarity of the first movement to the overture to “The Duty of the First Commandment” KV 35 and comparisons with Mozart's earliest symphonies that KV 76 “was composed before the overture, perhaps around December 1766. It is a longer piece that he (...) wrote with the greatest care as a child, in order to show it around to his teacher and his compatriots prove what he had learned on the great journey (Paris, London, Holland). ” Zaslaw (1988), however, describes this interpretation as “ pure fantasy ”.
• Abert (1955) questions the similarities described by Wyzewa and Saint-Foix (1912), since the implementation of the overture of 35 KV relate to the main theme, 76 but also by the head set of digressing KV from the main theme. On the one hand, the echo of a theme by Jean-Philippe Rameau in the last sentence (see there) refers to the temporal proximity after the first great trip (Holland, London, Paris), on the other hand, shows the [later assumed by Abert] addition of the minuet to southern Germany . Abert suspects that the work "was either created in Salzburg or immediately afterwards in Vienna."
• Einstein (1937) writes in the third edition of the Köchel Directory (the assessment was adopted in the sixth edition of the Köchel Directory from 1964): “The riddle of this symphony does not seem to us to have been solved yet; the menuetto is relatively so much more mature than the three other primitive movements that one would like to assume that it was composed ”. Since Einstein was generally of the opinion that Viennese symphonies almost always had four movements and that Mozart tried to adapt the symphonies composed for other locations to the Viennese conditions by inserting minuets, he probably concludes for this reason that the (assumed) extension by minuet and Trio was made for one of the trips to Vienna , indicates the date of origin "allegedly in the autumn of 1767 in Vienna" and assigns the adapted KV number 42a for the work.
• The music researcher Gerhard Allroggen and, based on this, Cliff Eisen suspect based on stylistic features that Leopold Mozart could be the composer of KV 76.

The old Mozart edition (published 1879-1882) contains 41 symphonies with the numbering from 1 to 41. Further works were published in supplementary volumes until 1910. The symphonies it contains are sometimes labeled with the numbers 42 to 55 (KV 76 has the number 43), even if they are earlier works than Mozart's last symphony KV 551 from 1788, which is number 41 according to the Old Mozart Edition .

Like the genesis and authorship, the musical quality of KV 76 is judged differently:

• Wyzewa and Saint-Foix (1912) generally speak of “great care” (see above);
• Einstein (1937) praises the third movement, but describes the other movements as "primitive" (see above);
• Zaslaw (1988) describes the symphony as "attractive", the andante as "charming" and emphasizes the "beauty" of the minuet;
• Sadie (2006), on the other hand, generally speaks of “weakness”, evaluating the pizzicato passages in the second movement as “clumsy” and the harmony in the minuet as “clumsy”.

To the music

Instrumentation: two oboes , two horns in F, two bassoons , two violins , viola , cello , double bass . As a special feature, the two bassoons notated separately in the score should be emphasized, which, as was customary at the time, were otherwise used without writing to double the bass part. If available in the orchestra, a harpsichord was also used as a continuo to reinforce the bass.

Performance duration: approx. 15 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 transferred to KV 76 with restrictions. Sentences 1, 2 and 4 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 maestoso

F major, 4/4 time, 77 bars

The movement opens - unusually for a symphony of the time - with the first theme in the piano, not in the forte as is usual. It is based on the cadenza-like sequence of tonic in F major, subdominant B major and dominant C major (the latter with seventh: C major - seventh chord) with the 1st violin leading the voice, while the other instruments only accompany the basic harmony:

This four-bar sequence is repeated. From bar 9 onwards, several small motifs follow: energetic motif with tone repetition (1st violin) and a sixteenth-note run down (2nd violin); Syncope passage and modulation to the dominant C major; short cadenza, initially only leading oboes; then "scratchy feet" (suggested figures) and a line ascending in the tremolo (can be interpreted as a second topic depending on your point of view); Motif with pounding rhythm and sixteenth-note run upwards, the motif runs offset through the strings and is then sequenced downwards in the bass . The final group with its clichéd motif ends the exposition with chord strokes in the dominant C major.

The second movement portion ( " implementation )" initially begins such as exposure, but from the dominant C Major from. The energetic motif with tone repetition analogous to bar 9 is varied, and from bar 47 Mozart changes to D minor with a new motif of triplets , dissonances and syncopations as well as a short dialogue between the violins and the winds. The “second theme” in D minor follows in measure 57 ff. Using a tremolo with chromatics , Mozart then switches back to the tonic in F major, in which the motif is performed analogously to bars 23 ff. The rest of the movement corresponds structurally to that of the exposition, but is now based on the tonic F major and not the dominant C major. Depending on your point of view, you can see the beginning of the “ recapitulation ” in measure 67 (reaching the tonic) or view the whole movement as a two-part form (see above). The second part is repeated like the exposition.

In addition to the piano movement, the use of the wind instruments is unusual:

• Two separately notated bassoons instead of one that doubles the bass and is not notated separately (applies to the entire symphony). The bassoons are sometimes used as part-leading or with short solos (e.g. bar 9, bar 17, bar 53-54).
• Normally the exposition of the first movement in Mozart's early symphonies (as in symphonies of this period in general) begins and ends with a forte passage of the entire orchestra, interrupted by a contrasting section in the piano in which some or all of the winds are silent (in the second theme) . But in this movement the winds have no pause and give the movement an “atypical, uniform timbre” from beginning to end .

Second movement: Andante

B flat major, 3/4 time, 51 bars, without oboes

At the beginning of the movement there is the slowly striding first theme in the forte with a characteristic low B in the bassoon. The answer is a pizzicato passage in the piano from bar 5 , the timbre of which is reminiscent of a mandolin . Mozart changes here to the dominant F major, in which the winds now open the second theme with an ascending triad. The ascending chord is immediately opposed by a falling line with a dotted rhythm. The final group is an eighth figure in pizzicato / staccato over sustained accompanying notes in the dialogue of the strings with each other and with the winds.

The second part begins with the first theme in the dominant F major and is structurally largely the same as the first part. However, a new passage has been added from bars 31-37, which is announced by modulating the pizzicato passage to G minor and a bassoon solo. It contains a “hop” motif wandering through the instruments with a characteristic octave jump . Both parts of the sentence are repeated.

In addition to the contrasts (forte piano, insertion of pizzicato passages) v. a. the deep splashes of color of the bassoons.

Third movement: Menuetto

F major, 3/4 time, 28 + 36 bars

The minuet is based on its radiant “antecedent” with flat chord melodies (alternation between F and B flat major) and the contrasting “subsequent” with sixteenth-note roller and staccato-quarters.

The trio for strings and bassoon is in D minor. It takes up the figure from the first two bars of the minuet's subsequent clause and continues it. The melody shows similarities to the “night watchman song” from the Czech Republic. B. is also quoted by Joseph Haydn in his Symphony No. 60 . The chromatics, the alternation of forte unison and piano as well as the staccato quarters create a somewhat exotic timbre. Abert (1955) thinks that Mozart was influenced by his father Leopold Mozart in the thematic connection of the minuet and trio (see also the thesis of Leopold Mozart's authorship for KV 76, see above).

Fourth movement: Allegro

F major, 2/4 time, 109 bars

The four-bar opening motif in forte unison is reminiscent of a gavotte by Jean-Philippe Rameau's “Le Temple de la Gloire” (third act, third scene). Opposite it is a four-bar follow-up in the piano.

The theme is repeated, with the postscript varied and continued with the dominant C major. In C major there is also the sequence of several smaller motifs, the first taking up the short sixteenth-note run down from the top of the theme as a dialogue between the violins (this is somewhat reminiscent of the passage after the second theme in the first movement of the symphony KV 43 ).

The “development” begins with the first theme in C. After it has been repeated with a modified ending, the motif follows with the sixteenth-note run from the top of the theme, analogous to the exposition, but now in the circle of fifths down through A major, D minor, G major and C major. A tremolo passage (bar 68 ff.) Then begins in G minor and leads via F major, D minor and G major to C major. The head of the topic occurs offset in the strings (initially the complete antecedent of the topic in the bass). The sequence of motifs from bar 79 corresponds to the exposition.

In the coda (bars 96 ff.) The headline is first led "upwards" through the instruments (bass - 2nd violin - 1st violin - oboes - horns), then in its inversion "downwards" (1st violin - 2nd violin). Violin - viola). A short tremolo passage forms the end. The second part of the sentence is also repeated.

Individual references, comments

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Neal Zaslaw: Symphony in F major KV 42a / 76. Text contribution to: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Symphonies Vol. VII , German translation by Decca 1988. Recording by the Academy of Ancient Music ; Concertmaster Jaap Schröder, continuo: Christopher Hogwood. Decca Record, London 1988.
2. ↑ quoted in Zaslaw (1988)
3. ^ Revised by Abert (1955), see below
4. ↑ Theodore de Wyzewwa, Georges de Saint-Foix: Wolfgang Mozart Amedée, Sa vie musicale et son oeuvre. Vol. I / II, Paris 1936 (new edition); quoted in Zaslaw (1988)
5. ↑ ^{a b} Hermann Abert: WA Mozart. Revised and expanded edition of Otto Jahn's Mozart. First part 1756-1782. 7th expanded edition, VEB Breitkopf & Härtel, Musikverlag, Leipzig 1955, 848 pp.
6. ^ ^{A b} Alfred Einstein: Chronological-thematic directory of all of Wolfgang Amade Mozart's music works. In addition to the information about the lost, started, transferred, dubious and superseded compositions by Dr. Ludwig Ritter von Köchel. Third edition, edited by Alfred Einstein. Breitkopf & Härtel-Verlag, Leipzig 1937, 984 pp.
7. ^ Franz Giegling, Alexander Weinmann , Gerd Sievers: Chronological-thematic directory of all of Wolfgang Amade Mozart's sound works. In addition to the information about the lost, started, transferred, dubious and superseded compositions by Dr. Ludwig Ritter von Köchel. Sixth edition. Breitkopf & Härtel-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1964, 1023 pp.
8. ^ 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.
9. ^ Stanley Sadie: Mozart - The early years 1756-1781. WW Norton & Co, London 2006: pp. 145 f.
10. ↑ awkward
11. ↑ ^{a b c} The repetitions of the parts of the sentence are not kept in some recordings.
12. ^ Tim Carter: Mozart: Salzburg Symphonies. Text contribution to the recording of the Mozart symphonies of the English Concert with Trevor Pinnock, Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg 1995

Web links, notes

• Symphony KV 76 (Mozart) : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sinfonia in Fa, K. 76. PR 805, Ricordi-Verlag, Milan 1955 (pocket score).

See also

• List of symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart