Listening Guides for MOZART: SYMPHONY NO.

25 IN G MINOR (K 183 / 173DB)

I am going to share with you some Listening Guides for MOZART: SYMPHONY NO. 25 IN G MINOR
(K 183 / 173DB) that we are going to listen 6th December evening at the Lionel Wendt.

In fact, these sort of theoretical details are NOT NECESSARY for you since you have a deep sensitivity for
classical music. But if you have spare time please try to read it as it would help you with guiding new
listeners who are travelling on the path of classical music but not fortunate enough to have such deep
sensitivity like what you have by your birth.

For instance, if your daughter shows interest in classical music then these kind of details will be helpful
in guiding her in this path. But if she also has a deep sensitivity by birth like her beautiful mother then
these details will absolutely NOT be necessary.

Listening Guides for MOZART: SYMPHONY NO. 25 IN G MINOR (K 183 / 173DB);

A brief of this symphony.

Mozart (1756-1791) wrote at least 41 symphonies and there is evidence that he probably wrote even
more. He composed number 25 in Salzburg near the end of 1773 when he was only 17 years old.
Symphony No. 25 is considered to be Mozart’s first “tragic” symphony and was written in the “Sturm
und Drang” style. The Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) movement in music featured dramatic
emotional extremes often represented by minor keys as in this symphony, and by dramatic and sudden
changes in tempo, dynamics, expressive music elements, and with effects such as the use of tremolo. (If
you have already not known these technical terms then please don’t worry about at all and if time
permits then I will teach you all these as they are very easy to understand. Most of all you don’t need to
worry about these since you have a deep sensitivity for classical music by birth. For instance, Mozart did
not know much about these when he started composing and his father later taught him on all these)

Listening Guides;

1. Try to identify the form (organizational structure) of this symphony. Try to hear that it is written
in four different sections, or movements. These movements use forms typical for a symphony
written in this classical time period. They are:

Allegro con brio (fast and lively, with vigour)

Andante (a slower movement)
Menuetto and Trio (A minuet dance form)
Allegro (fast and lively)
 Each of the four sections or movements also has a particular form. The first and fourth Allegro
movements are written in sonata form. Try to hear two different themes introduced by the
orchestra at the beginning of these movements that Mozart develops in different ways
throughout the movement, and then returns to at the end of the movement. This kind of
compositional development is characteristic of classical sonata form.

The slower second movement Andante is in the form of an operatic aria.

The third movement is a three part dance form called a minuet and trio. Try to hear themes in
the first part of this movement, then a contrasting section, and then the sounds repeated from
the first section again. This particular dance minuet was not intended for people to dance to.
Think that why would it be difficult to dance to this particular minuet.

2. What instruments can you hear in this symphony? How many performers are playing onstage?
What string instruments do you hear (violin, viola, cello, double bass)? Can you pick out other
instruments? Which ones? Mozart wrote this symphony for two oboes, two bassoons, four
horns, and string instruments.
3. Can you identify the mood Mozart is trying to create in each movement? How does Mozart use
tempo (the speed of the music), dynamics (the volume of the music), and expression (musical
elements that express certain feelings or dispositions) to create different moods? Can you hear
how Mozart creates dramatic music in the Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) style with
contrasting tempos and dynamics and sudden changes in tempo and dynamics? Can you hear
dramatic dynamic changes in the fourth and final movement? Can you hear the first movement
being loudly? What kinds of dynamics do you hear in the second, slow movement? The third
dance movement?
Which movements use mostly fast music? Which movement uses mostly slower music? Can you
hear when the tempo of the music changes and gets faster or slower? How does that affect the
mood of the work?

When do you hear music played loudly? Quietly? When does the volume of the music change?
When does the music get louder (crescendo) or get quieter (decrescendo)?

Do you hear musical sounds that are short sounding (staccato) or very smooth sounding
(legato)? Where do you hear suddenly loud sounds (accents)?

4. How is rhythm used in this symphony? Do you hear sections that have a steady rhythm or beat
that you could tap to? (or clap)
The opening movement begins with a repeated syncopated (off-the-beat) 5 note pattern heard
in the violins and violas. Can you hear the oboes play four long notes over the syncopated
patterns? Syncopated rhythmic patterns are a feature of the Sturm und Drang style. Can you
hear syncopated rhythms return in the final, fourth movement?
 Can you hear any repeated rhythmic patterns in other movements? Did any particular rhythmic
pattern stand out for you that you could listen for in this symphony?

5. How is melody used in this symphony? Do you hear high sounds or pitches? Do you hear low
sounds or pitches? Can you hear when a melody suddenly jumps much higher? Do you hear the
large leaps in the melody and the jagged melodic themes associated with the Sturm und Drang
style in the first and fourth movements?
Do the melodies heard in this first movement sound familiar to you? You may have heard this
first movement played in the opening of the film Amadeus.

Can you hear the “Mannheim rocket” at the beginning of this work? A rapidly rising series of
broken chord notes was known as a “Mannheim rocket.”

Can you pick out two contrasting themes in the first and fourth movements? Can you pick out
other melodies or themes in each of the four movements? Can you hear melodies or themes
that are repeated throughout each movement and sound quite different to each other? Can you
hear melodies or themes that are louder and more dramatic than others? Do you hear themes
are that calmer and gentler? Do you hear where Mozart has lets different instruments take
turns playing the same melody or parts of the melody? The contrast of these different themes
helps create a sense of drama in this symphony.

6. Can you hear different kinds of texture in this work? Where do you hear lots of instruments
playing together so that the sound is thick? Where do you hear just a few instruments playing?
Can you hear which instruments are playing? Do you hear instruments playing the same notes
all together? When two or more instruments play the same pitch, the effect is known as unison.
Mozart made more use of unison playing in this early symphony than he did in later
symphonies. Can you hear the orchestra instruments playing loudly together in unison at the
very beginning of the symphony? Can you hear more unison playing but performed quietly at
the beginning of the fourth movement? Where else can you hear unison playing?

7. What kinds of instrumental timbre do you hear? Timbre is the different qualities of sound that
can be heard, for example the kinds of sounds that the string instruments make when they play
together. When does the timbre of the music change because Mozart adds or takes away
different instruments?

How does the timbre change in the second slow movement Andante when the bassoons answer
the violins? How does the timbre change again in the Trio section of the third movement
Minuetto and Trio when just the wind instruments play together? Do you hear different
instruments or instrument groups calling back and forth together at different points in the
symphony?
Reflections and Responses;

1. What is your immediate response to this music? Does this music sound like any other music you
have heard before? What does this music make you think of? Have you heard any other music
by Mozart? His music has been used in many films and on TV. If you have heard other music by
Mozart, is it similar or different to the Symphony No. 25? Perhaps you could watch the movie
Amadeus, about the life of Mozart, and listen for the Symphony No. 25 played at the beginning
of the movie. (If you don’t have this movie and interested in watching then please let me know)

2. What adjectives might describe the mood that you felt when listening to this symphony? Can
you identify what musical elements may have created that mood for you? When did the mood
change and why?

3. What musical elements did you enjoy or find interesting? Did you enjoy the melodies that you
heard? Did the rhythms, dynamics, or tempos used by Mozart help make this work exciting? Did
you hear parts of the symphony that made you feel peaceful or calm and if so, what part of the
symphony were they in? Were there any parts that sounded particularly dramatic to you? If so,
which movement did you hear them in and why did they feel dramatic to you?

4. Were there parts of the Symphony that you did not enjoy? Why or why not? Can you identify
which music elements made you enjoy or not enjoy the music?

5. Different people often have different responses to the same music. Ask someone else who
heard the same music about their response to Mozart’s Symphony No. 25.

6. What feelings did it seem that Mozart was trying to communicate to his audience about this
work? What music elements seemed to be important to him?
 7. Is there other music by Mozart that you could listen to and compare to the sounds and
experience of the Symphony No. 25? Mozart only wrote two symphonies in minor keys.
Symphony no. 25 is the first minor symphony and known as the “little g minor.” The second
minor symphony is No. 40 and sometimes known as the “great g minor.” Can you listen to
Symphony No. 40 and compare it to No. 25 written many years earlier?

I should clearly tell you over and over again that you should not be worried at all about these theories
and details as you are having a very deep musical sensitivity by birth. I know that you are a person
who always wants to do the best to whatever you set out to do and therefore I am sharing these
information just in case if you have already not known them. Otherwise these are not very important
for you at all since you are a gifted natural classical music lover and a fan.