the quintessence of Mozart in terms of sound and rhythm, and
we need but to listen to his message and receive it with grate-
ful appreciation. The work contains the four customary move-
ments, all of them (save the three-part Minuet and Trio) in
complete Sonata-form. The first movement begins at once with
a gracefully poised theme sung by the violins, a theme which
may be likened in its outlines to the purity of a Greek statue.
The entrancing effect of this melody cannot be realized except
on the orchestra, for it seems to float on the gently pulsating
chords of the violas like a beautiful flower. Everyone who hears
the work is at once arrested by this highly original treatment,
e.g.
[Music]
The transition is short but leads us in a happy state of ex-
pectancy through a change of rhythm from the graceful outlines
of the first theme to the vigorous phrase
[Music]
and by a bold run, thrice repeated, to the entrance of the sec-
ond theme in measure 43. This theme, in the customary relative
major (B-flat), illustrates Mozart’s fondness for the chromatic
element which gives to many of his melodies such a haunting
appeal. The closing portion, beginning at measure 71, is an ex-
ample of Mozart’s spontaneous skill in polyphonic writing. It is
based entirely on the motive of the main theme in delightful im-
itations tossed about by different sections of the orchestra. The
second part is a genuine Development, since the musical life
never flags in its contrapuntal vitality; the theme appears in all
parts of the texture—upper, inner and lower voices—and we are
carried vigorously onward by the daring modulations. Just at
the close of the Development we see Mozart’s constructive skill
in the fusion of this part with the subsequent Recapitulation.
A series of drifting chromatic chords in the flutes and oboes,
like light fleecy clouds, keeps us in a state of suspended wonder
when quietly there emerges the first theme and the return home
has begun. It is one of the truly poetic touches in musical liter-
ature and has been often imitated—especially by Tchaikowsky
in hisFifthandSixth Symphonies.[127] The Recapitulation cor-
responds exactly with the Exposition, but an added pathos is
given to the second theme by its appearance in the tonic key
of G minor. Observe the impassioned intensity of the climax