The Classical Music Book

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(and somewhat frivolous) finales

were also given greater weight by

these court composers, further

revolutionizing the genre.

The 40th symphony

While several of Mozart’s early

works flaunt these Mannheim-

influenced, dramatic musical

characteristics—for example,

juxtaposing the woodwind and

string sections to powerful

effect—his later “Great” Symphony,

No. 40 in G minor is characterized

by a more integrated instrumental

palette. This style is typical of

works from Vienna, which along

with Mannheim was the city most

strongly associated with the

symphony as a genre in the 18th

century. While ostensibly more

subdued, harmonic color and

melodic drama are in plentiful

supply here as well.

Beginning with a sighing figure

in the strings, Symphony No. 40

in G minor features a number of

bold, stormy passages, as well

as virtuoso writing for the entire

orchestra. Indeed, the whole work

has the feeling of an unspoken,

tragic drama and often echoes

Mozart’s music for the stage. All

of this was designed to impress

the worldly Viennese, as were the

audacious tonal choices that

Mozart made across all four

movements. These often require

feats of musical ingenuity across

the scale, particularly at the

beginning of the development

section of the energetic finale.

Here, Mozart uses 11 out of the

12 notes of the chromatic scale

(leaving out only G, the tonic—or

central note—of the symphony),

creating a complex and sometimes

dissonant sound. It is little wonder

that Arnold Schoenberg, known for

employing all 12 notes in a scale,

would later be drawn to this work

in particular.

The home key, G minor, is also

an important component of the

work. It was, for Mozart, the

musical channel through which

he frequently expressed pain or

tragedy, not just in complete works

but also in arias such as Pamina’s

“Ach, ich fühl’s” (“Oh, I feel it”) in

The Magic Flute. In addition to

Symphony No. 40’s harmonic twists

and turns, its feeling of emotional

unpredictability stems from the

varying lengths of its musical

phrases, as at the beginning of the

INNOVATION IN THE CLASSICAL SYMPHONY

first movement, which starts as if

in mid-flow. Equally complex—and

sometimes quite confrontational—

is the orchestral texture. Although

it never breaks out into a full fugue,

as in the final movement of

Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony

A musical hub

As capital of the Habsburg

Empire, Vienna was the center

of European music for two

centuries. It was home to many

of the great Classical composers,

including Mozart, Haydn, and

Beethoven. They converged on

the city in search of patronage

and audiences, the first in a

long list of composers, including

Schubert (who was born in

Vienna), the Strauss family,

Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler,

Schoenberg, and Webern.

As the public interest in

music expanded, new theatres

and concert halls were built to

cater for them. Empress Maria

Theresa built the Burgtheater

close to the royal palace in 1741,

and in 1833, the composer and

conductor Franz Lachner

founded the Künstlerverein,

the forerunner of the Vienna

Philharmonic Orchestra, rival to

the Berlin Philharmonic for the

title of world’s top orchestra.

The Burgtheater on Michaelerplatz,

Vienna, was operated by the Habsburg

court. A number of Mozart’s operas

were premiered here.

Mozart created a second version

of Symphony No. 40 that included

clarinets, which had only recently been

invented. These were created by the

18th-century craftsman Jacob Denner.

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