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41 (Mozart) - Wikipedia

Symphony No. 41 (Mozart)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Symphony No. 41 in C
Symphony No. 41
major, K. 551, on 10 August 1788.[1] The longest and last symphony
that he composed, it is regarded by many critics as among the Jupiter
greatest symphonies in classical music.[2][3] The work is nicknamed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
the Jupiter Symphony, likely coined by the impresario Johann
Peter Salomon.[4][a]

Contents
Instrumentation
Composition and premiere
Movements
I. Allegro vivace
II. Andante cantabile
III. Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio
IV. Molto allegro Mozart c. 1788
Origin of the nickname Key C major
Responses and reception Catalogue K. 551
First recording Composed 1788
See also Movements four
Notes
References
External links

Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns in C, two trumpets in C, timpani in
C and G, and strings.

Composition and premiere

Symphony No. 41 is the last of a set of three that Mozart composed in rapid succession during the
summer of 1788. No. 39 was completed on 26 June and No. 40 on 25 July.[1] Nikolaus Harnoncourt
argues that Mozart composed the three symphonies as a unified work, pointing, among other things, to
the fact that the Symphony No. 41, as the final work, has no introduction (unlike No. 39) but has a grand
finale.[5]

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Around the same time as he composed the three symphonies, Mozart was writing his piano trios in E
major (K. 542), and C major (K. 548), his piano sonata No. 16 in C (K. 545) – the so-called Sonata facile
– and a violin sonatina K. 547.

It is not known whether Symphony No. 41 was ever performed in the composer's lifetime. According to
Otto Erich Deutsch, around this time Mozart was preparing to hold a series of "Concerts in the Casino"
in a new casino in the Spiegelgasse owned by Philipp Otto. Mozart even sent a pair of tickets for this
series to his friend Michael Puchberg. But it seems impossible to determine whether the concert series
was held, or was cancelled for lack of interest.[1]

Movements
The four movements are arranged in the traditional symphonic form of the Classical era:

I. Allegro vivace, 4
4
3 in F major
II. Andante cantabile, 4
3
III. Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio, 4
IV. Molto allegro, 2
2

The symphony typically has a duration of about 33 minutes.

I. Allegro vivace

The sonata form first movement's main theme begins with contrasting motifs: a threefold tutti outburst
on the fundamental tone (respectively, by an ascending motion leading in a triplet from the dominant
tone underneath to the fundamental one), followed by a more lyrical response.

0:00

This exchange is heard twice and then followed by an extended series of fanfares. What follows is a
transitional passage where the two contrasting motifs are expanded and developed. From there, the
second theme group begins with a lyrical section in G major which ends suspended on a seventh chord
and is followed by a stormy section in C minor. Following a full stop, the expositional coda begins which
quotes Mozart's insertion aria "Un bacio di mano", K. 541 and then ends the exposition on a series of
fanfares.[6]

The development begins with a modulation from G major to E♭ major where the insertion-aria theme is
then repeated and extensively developed. A false recapitulation then occurs where the movement's
opening theme returns but softly and in F major. The first theme group's final flourishes then are
extensively developed against a chromatically falling bass followed by a restatement of the end of the
insertion aria then leading to C major for the recapitulation.[6] With the exception of the usual key
transpositions and some expansion of the minor key sections, the recapitulation proceeds in a regular
fashion.[6]

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II. Andante cantabile

The second movement, also in sonata form, is a sarabande of the French type in F major (the
subdominant key of C major) similar to those found in the keyboard suites of J.S. Bach.[6]

III. Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio

The third movement, a menuetto marked "allegretto" is similar to a Ländler, a popular Austrian folk
dance form. Midway through the movement there is a chromatic progression in which sparse imitative
textures are presented by the woodwinds (bars 43–51) before the full orchestra returns. In the trio
section of the movement, the four-note figure that will form the main theme of the last movement
appears prominently (bars 68–71), but on the seventh degree of the scale rather than the first, and in a
minor key rather than a major, giving it a very different character.

IV. Molto allegro

Finally, a remarkable characteristic of this symphony is the five-voice fugato (representing the five major
themes) at the end of the fourth movement. But there are fugal sections throughout the movement either
by developing one specific theme or by combining two or more themes together, as seen in the interplay
between the woodwinds. The main theme consists of four notes:

0:00

Four additional themes are heard in the "Jupiter's" finale, which is in sonata form, and all five motifs are
combined in the fugal coda.

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In an article about the Jupiter Symphony, Sir George Grove wrote that "it is for the finale that Mozart
has reserved all the resources of his science, and all the power, which no one seems to have possessed to
the same degree with himself, of concealing that science, and making it the vehicle for music as pleasing
as it is learned. Nowhere has he achieved more." Of the piece as a whole, he wrote that "It is the greatest
orchestral work of the world which preceded the French Revolution."[7]

The four-note theme is a common plainchant motif which can be traced back at least as far as Josquin
des Prez's Missa Pange lingua from the 16th century. It was very popular with Mozart. It makes a brief
appearance as early as his Symphony No. 1 in 1764. Later, he used it in the Credo of an early Missa
Brevis in F major, the first movement of his Symphony No. 33 and trio of the minuet of this
symphony.[8]

Scholars are certain Mozart studied Michael Haydn's Symphony No. 28 in C major, which also has a
fugato in its finale and whose coda he very closely paraphrases for his own coda. Charles Sherman
speculates that Mozart also studied Michael Haydn's Symphony No. 23 in D major because he "often
requested his father Leopold to send him the latest fugue that Haydn had written."[9] The Michael
Haydn No. 39, written only a few weeks before Mozart's, also has a fugato in the finale, the theme of
which begins with two whole notes. Sherman has pointed out other similarities between the two almost
perfectly contemporaneous works. The four-note motif is also the main theme of the contrapuntal finale
of Michael's elder brother Joseph's Symphony No. 13 in D major (1764).

Origin of the nickname

According to Franz Mozart, Wolfgang's younger son, the symphony was given the name Jupiter by
Johann Peter Salomon,[4][10] who had settled in London in around 1781. The name has also been
attributed to Johann Baptist Cramer, an English music publisher.[11][12][13] Reportedly, from the very
first chords, Mozart's Symphony No. 41 reminded Cramer of Jupiter and his thunderbolts.[13] The finale
of the symphony is a re-working, albeit a majestic one, of the opening movement of Carl Ditters's
symphony in D, Der Sturz Phaëtons (The Fall of Phaëton) of 1785. In those days of classical education,
members of the Philharmonic Society, of which Salomon was a founding member, will have known that
the planet that the ancient Greeks called Phaët(h)on is the same planet that the ancient Romans called
"Jupiter".[b] Thus the majestic nickname is also a humorous one.

The name does not appear to have entered general circulation until nearly twenty years after Ditters's
death in 1799. Some sources suggest 1821,[10] but public notices using the name have emerged going
back to mid-1817.[c] It does not appear to have been much earlier. Salomon died in 1815, so it may have
circulated within informed musical circles for a considerable time before it became public.[d]

Responses and reception

In a phrase ascribed to musicologist Elaine Sisman in a book devoted to the "Jupiter" (Cambridge
Musical Handbooks, 1993), most responses ranged "from admiring to adulatory, a gamut from A to
A."[14]

As summarized below, the Symphony garnered approbation from critics, theorists, composers and
biographers and came to be viewed as a canonized masterwork, known for its fugue and its overall
structure which exuded clarity.[15]

E. L. Gerber in Neues Historisch-biographisches Lexicon der Tonkünstler (1812–1814):

"..overpoweringly great, fiery, artistic, pathetic, sublime, Symphony in C..."
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A review in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (1846): "How pure and clear are all the images
within! No more and no less than that which each requires according to its nature. ... Here is
revealed how the master first collects his material separately, then explores how everything can
proceed from it, and finally builds and elaborates upon it. That even Beethoven worked this way is
revealed in his sketchbooks."
Brahms remarked in 1896: "I am able to understand too that Beethoven's first symphony did impress
people colossally. But the last three symphonies by Mozart are much more important. Some people
are beginning to feel that now."

First recording
The first known recording of the Jupiter Symphony is from 1913, at the dawn of the recording era,
making it one of the very first symphonies to be recorded using the earliest recording technology.[16]

The 1913 Jupiter Symphony recording lists Victor Concert Orchestra as the performers conducted by
Walter B. Rogers. [17]

See also
Beim Auszug in das Feld -- Elaine Sisman's theory that the flourishes of military music in the work
were inspired by the outbreak of the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–91.

Notes
a. For more definition, see Origin of the nickname.
b. The Phaëton of Ditters's symphony was the son of Helios, the Sun god, whereas the planet was
called after the other Phaëton, the Promethian mortal commonly spelled as Phaëthon, but Salomon's
joke stands nonetheless.
c. The Times of Thursday, May 8, 1817, carries an advertisement for a concert to be given in the
Hanover Square Rooms on "Friday next, May 9" to include "Grand Sinfonie (Jupiter), Mozart". The
Morning Post of Tuesday, June 3, 1817, carries an advertisement for printed music that includes:
"The celebrated movement from Mozart's sympathy [sic], called 'Jupiter', arranged as a Duet, by J.
Wilkins, 4s. [4 shillings]"
d. Ditter's music was never well-known in England, and it faded from the continental repertory after his
death. When the nickname Jupiter did go into circulation, Phaëton would have been forgotten by
concert-goers for a generation; then when Phaëton was revived in recent times, Greek and Roman
mythology had largely faded from public education. So the fact that the nickname of Mozart's
symphony is an allusion to Ditters's symphony is generally overlooked.

References
1. Deutsch 1965, 320
2. Brown, Mark (August 4, 2016). "Beethoven's Eroica voted greatest symphony of all time" (https://ww
w.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/04/beethoven-eroica-greatest-symphony-vote-bbc-mozart-mahle
r). The Guardian. Retrieved September 29, 2017. "Mozart's last symphony, No 41, the 'Jupiter', was
in third place [...]"
3. "These are factually the 10 best symphonies of all time" (http://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/lat
est/best-symphony/). Classic FM (UK). August 30, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.

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4. Heartz 2009, pp. 210, 458, 474

5. Clements, Andrew (23 July 2014). "Mozart: The Last Symphonies review – a thrilling journey through
a tantalising new theory" (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/23/mozart-last-symphonies-ni
kolaus-harnoncourt-review). The Guardian.
6. Brown, A. Peter, The Symphonic Repertoire (Volume 2). Indiana University Press
(ISBN 025333487X), pp. 423–32 (2002).
7. Grove 1906.
8. Heartz 2009, pp. 212–215.
9. C. Sherman, Foreword to score of Sinfonia in C, Perger 31 Vienna: Doblinger K. G. (1967)
10. Oxford Companion to Music
11. Burk, J. N. (1959). "Symphony No. 41, in C Major ('Jupiter'), K. 551". In: Mozart and His Music, p.
299.
12. F. G. E. [Frederick George Edwards] (1 October 1902). "J. B. Cramer (1771–1858)". The Musical
Times and Singing Class Circular. 43 (716): 641–646. doi:10.2307/3369624 (https://doi.org/10.230
7%2F3369624). JSTOR 3369624 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3369624). (spec. p. 644 (para. 2)
13. Lindauer, David. (2006, January 25). "Annapolis Symphony Orchestra (ASO) Concert Part of Mozart
Birthday Tribute", The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland), p. B8.
14. "Symphony No. 41 in C Major, "Jupiter" " (http://m.kennedy-center.org/home/program/3187). The
Kennedy Center. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170302223459/http://m.kennedy-center.or
g/home/program/3187) from the original on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
15. Sisman, Elaine (1993). Mozart: The 'Jupiter' Symphony (https://archive.org/details/mozartjupitersym0
0sism). Cambridge University Press. p. 28 (https://archive.org/details/mozartjupitersym00sism/page/
n39). ISBN 0521409241.
16. "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Discography of American Historical Recordings" (http://adp.library.ucs
b.edu/index.php/talent/detail/30081/Mozart_Wolfgang_Amadeus_composer#).
17. "Mozart – Jupiter Symphony" (http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/200013178/B-13669
-Jupiter_symphony). Discography of American Historical Recordings.

Sources

Deutsch, Otto Erich (1965). Mozart: A Documentary Biography (https://archive.org/details/mozartdoc

umentar0000deut). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Grove, George (January 1906). "Mozart's Symphony in C (The Jupiter)" (https://zenodo.org/record/1
449970). The Musical Times. 47 (755): 27–31. doi:10.2307/904183 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F9041
83). JSTOR 904183 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/904183).
Heartz, Daniel (2009). Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven 1781–1802. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-
06634-0.

External links

Sinfonie in C (Jupiter-Sinfonie) KV 551: Score (https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?v

sep=111&gen=edition&l=1&p1=187) and critical report (https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_co
nt.php?vsep=112&l=1&p1=44) (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
Symphony No. 41: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Analysis of the fugal coda from the finale (http://www.peachnote.com/viewer?sid=IMSLP100325&pag
e=55&w=900&h=650)
List of live performances on Bachtrack (http://www.bachtrack.com/find-a-concert/What/work=8258-S
ymphony-no--41-in-C-major--Jupiter---K551)
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The apartment where Mozart wrote his last three Symphonies: Michael Lorenz, "Mozart's Apartment
on the Alsergrund" (http://homepage.univie.ac.at/michael.lorenz/alsergrund)

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