Mozart Symphony No.1, K.16

Classical Music / Symphonies


The Symphony No. 1 in E♭ major, K. 16, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1764, while in London, UK. He was eight years. By this time, he was already notable in Europe as a wunderkind performer, but had composed little music. The piece was written on the Mozart family's Grand Tour of Europe in London when they had to move to Chelsea during the summer of 1764 due to Mozart's father's throat infection. The house at 180 Ebury Street, now in the borough of Westminster, where this this symphony was written, is marked with a plaque.

This symphony was first performed on 21 February 1765. The work shows the influence of several composers, including his father Leopold Mozart and the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach, in particular, Johann Christian Bach, an early symphonist working in London whom Mozart had met there. 



Video Credit:

Mozart Symphony No. 1, San Francisco Academy Orchestra. Andrei Gorbatenko, Conducting. YouTube, uploaded by SFAcademyOrchestra.  Accessed February 21, 2018.

Resource:

Symphony No. 1 (Mozart). en.wikipedia.org. 



(c) 2018.  Tel Asiado.  Inspired Pen Web.  All rights reserved. 

A Mozart Celebration

Classical Music / Mozart

Celebrating the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with three favourite overtures, six great piano concertos, and his final three symphonies. 

This post is inspired by a recent series of performances hosted by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, February 1-10, 2018. The events featured the SSO with pianist Emanuel Ax, Maestro David Robertson, conducting.



I.  Dramatic Mozart   

Don Giovanni: Overture
Piano Concerto No.14 in E flat, K449
Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K466
Symphony No.40 


II.  Seductive Mozart

Cosi fan tutte: Overture
Piano Concerto No.16 in D, K.451
Piano Concerto No.17 in G, K453
Symphony No.39 


III.  Magnificent Mozart 

The Marriage of Figaro: Overture
Piano Concerto No.19 in F, K.459
Piano Concerto No.27 in B flat, K.595
Symphony No.41 (Jupiter)


Resources:

Booklets, and SSO programs to subscribers. 2018.
Sydney Symphony Orchestra. SSO website.  Accessed February 2018.


(c)  2018.  Tel Asiado.  Inspired Pen Web.  All rights reserved.  

Mozart's Last Three Symphonies - Nos. 39, 40 and 41

Mozart / Symphonies / Orchestral

Symphony No. 39, Symphony No. 40, Symphony No. 41

The Symphony No. 39 in Eb major, K. 543, completed on 26 June 1788, is the first of a set of three last symphonies that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed in rapid succession during the summer of 1788. Symphony No. 40 was completed 25 July and Symphony No. 41 on 10th of August. Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt argues that Mozart composed these three symphonies as a unified work, pointing, among other things, to the fact that the Symphony No. 39 has a grand introduction (in the manner of an overture) but no coda.

Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV 550 is sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony," to distinguish it from the "Little G minor symphony," No. 25, which Mozart composed when he was only 17 years old (October 1773). Symphony No. 25 is one of two G minor symphonies Mozart wrote aside from Symphony No. 40. (Mozart's Symphony No 40. YouTube, uploaded by WD Classical Music, Maestro Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting Concentus Musicus.  Accessed July 25, 2025.)  The two symphonies are the only extant minor key symphonies Wolfgang Mozart wrote. (Here's a favourite link from Maestro Leonard Bernstein conducting Symphony 40: here, and Symphony No. 25: here. Sorry, the video has no live performance, thus I don't know the performers. I enjoy listening to Symph No. 25 when I feel drained of energy.)

Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, was completed by Mozart  on 10 August 1788. The longest and last symphony that he composed, it is regarded by many critics and music lovers as among the greatest symphonies in classical music... the pinnacle of Mozart's instrumental music. Its combination of simplicity and complexity, melodic invention and emotional depth remain unsurpassed. This work is nicknamed the Jupiter Symphony, a name stems not from Mozart himself but said as likely coined by the impresario Johann Peter Salomon. (Mozart: Sinfonie C-Dur KV 551 (»Jupiter«) ∙ hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Paavo Järvi. Uploaded by Frankfurt Radio symphony. Accessed June 26, 2015. Mozart Symphony 41 / Simone Young / 2018. YouTube, uploaded by micabrains. Accessed April 29, 2021.)



Resources:

Symphony No. 39 (Mozart). en.wikipedia.org.

Symphony N0. 40 (Mozart). en.wikipedia.org.

Symphony No. 41 (Mozart). en.wikipedia.org.

(c) June 26, 2015. Updated July 25, 2025. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Mozart's Symphony No. 31 in D major "Paris"

Classical Music / Mozart Symphony

The Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297/300a, better known as the "Paris Symphony," is one of the more famous symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The work was composed in 1778 during Mozart's unsuccessful job-hunting sojourn in Paris. The composer was then 22 years old. The premiere took place on 12 June 1778 in a private performance in the home of Count Karl Heinrich Joseph von Sickingen, the ambassador of the Elrectorate of the Palatinate. The public premiere took place six days later in a performance at the Concert Spirituel.




The work received a positive review in the June 26 issue of the Courrier de l'Europe, published in London.  Several other performances ensued, and evidently, it was popular. At a later date, the symphony was performed in the Burgtheater in Vienna on 11 March 1783 during a benefit concert for the singer Aloysia Weber, Mozart's sister-in-law.