The Classical Music Book

131

in C major (No. 41) that followed,

counterpoint—alternate melodic

lines played above or below the

main melody—is apparent

throughout. Even the minuet

and trio of the symphony’s third

movement, normally an exercise

in pleasant repetition, prove rather

heated, more in the manner of a

quarrel than a courtly dance.

Together, the symphony’s four

movements move us far beyond

the balance and poise of Mozart’s

earlier works—as well as those

of his contemporaries. They look

ahead to the more turbulent

music of the Romantic period.

Mozart’s legacy

It is not clear if Symphony No. 40

was premiered during Mozart’s

lifetime, and many commentators

claimed that it was not written

for Vienna at all, but for posterity.

However, the presence of a second

version of the score, including

parts for two clarinets, probably

written for Mozart’s friends,

the clarinetists and basset horn

players Anton and Johann Stadler,

indicates that Mozart must have

heard at least one performance

before he died in 1791.

After Mozart’s death, his final three

symphonies, a magnificent triptych

with the G minor at its heart, were

repeatedly held up as the pinnacle

of the Classical symphony. These

works—along with Haydn’s own

great body of symphonies—no

doubt provided the benchmark for

the young Ludwig van Beethoven.

Born in Bonn, Beethoven arrived

in Vienna the year after Mozart’s

death and became one of Haydn’s

pupils, initially emulating the

music of both his teacher and his

idol Mozart. Eventually, however,

Beethoven would break their

CL ASSICAL 1750 –1820

mold with radically different works,

such as “Eroica” in 1804, and the

Ninth Symphony of 1824.

Romantic developments

The tonally (and expressively)

diverse music of Beethoven’s

contemporary Franz Schubert

also found its model in Mozart’s

final works. Those who followed

these Viennese masters, such as

Hector Berlioz and Franz Liszt,

continued to adapt the Classical

symphony to their own Romantic

ends, introducing new dramatic

effects and elements, such as

program notes to help the audience

interpret the music, as in Berlioz’s

Symphonie fantastique and

Liszt’s symphonic poems.

Collectively, these gave the

symphony an even greater sense

of theater and formed the basis

for Richard Wagner’s “symphonic”

operas, with their emphasis on

recurrent motifs and the changing

role of the orchestra—Wagner was

the first to place the orchestra out

of sight of the audience, focusing

attention on the stage. The roots of

such bold innovations are found in

the symphonic works Mozart wrote

toward the end of his short life. ■

The first movement of a

symphony presents several themes and

develops the sections in different keys, ending

in the main key, usually in a fast-pace

sonata-allegro form.

The second

movement presents lyrical

melodies. It usually has a ternary form,

with three sections, the third

repeating the first.

Two brisk minuets separated by a

contrasting trio section in ternary form

make up the third movement.

The fourth movement is

fairly fast and often in a rondo form, in

which the first section is repeated and there

is a different new section between

each repetition.

Mozart’s music is so

pure and beautiful that

I see it as a reflection

of the inner workings

of the universe.

Albert Einstein

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