Leopold Mozart, the father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was a well-known teacher and composer in his own right in mid-18th century Germany. Although he composed conventional orchestral and choral works, he also composed a number of programmatic pieces with peasant or rustic themes.
Of these, the best-known is the “Toy Symphony,” also known as the Kindersinfonie (Childrens’ Symphony) or “Sinfonia Berchtolsgadensis,” named after a village in the Bavarian Alps which was an important center for making cuckoo clocks and toy musical instruments in the 18th century.
This lighthearted 3-movement work features a small orchestra of strings, consisting of violins, ‘cellos and basses (but no violas). It also includes an assortment of “toy” wind and percussion instruments (the cuckoo, quail, nightingale, rattle, drum, trumpet and triangle), which are used with a good deal of melody, harmony and humor.
It is clear from the title that Joseph Haydn was a very prolific composer, and all of his symphonies are mature, brilliant and well-crafted works.
Haydn wrote this masterpiece in 1795 during his second triumphal visit to London. This symphony — his last — was one of twelve written for concerts given in London between 1791 and 1795. It is one of the great masterworks of the symphonic literature.
The first movement begins with a grand, dramatic introduction, played in unison, and intended to have the audience take notice. The graceful Allegro that follows is a complete contrast in mood. It starts very simply but soon builds tremendous momentum and excitement.
The second movement Andante is a series of contrasting variations, full of grace and wit. The singing Minuet and lilting Trio are typical of Haydn at his very best.
The final Spiritoso movement is based on a Croatian folk-dance, and builds to a rousing finale. The “London” symphony is a fitting climax to Haydn’s lifetime of symphonic achievement.
With works like this Haydn set the course of Austro-German symphonic tradition which would continue through Mozart and Beethoven to Brahms, Mahler and beyond.
Revolutionary in its time, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony is seen by many as the quintessential symphony. Beethoven composed it in 1808 (at the same time as his “Pastoral” Symphony), and it was premiered in December of that year.
There have been apocryphal stories and descriptions read into this symphony — that it signifies “fate knocking on the door,” that parts of it may reflect his “immortal beloved,” etc. — but in the end, it is the nobility and innate humanity of Beethoven’s composition which have caused it to be universally embraced.
The first movement, dark and with a driving ferocity, is built upon the celebrated opening motif of three short notes and one long note. There are intermittent lyrical respites in the strings and woodwinds, heralded by the horns and bassoons. Overall, the movement is compact, and built upon the 4-note opening.
The second movement has a warm lyric theme introduced by the violas and ‘celli. This is followed by a majestic martial theme by winds, brass and timpani. Beethoven embellishes both themes in successive variations.
The third movement is dark and mysterious, with a foreboding ‘cello and bass opening. A strident second theme is introduced by the horns, with three short notes and one long note, and recalls the first movement’s opening motif. After a vigorous trio and reprise, the end of the third movement leads, via a hushed transition, to the glorious finale, in one of the defining passages of the symphonic canon.
The finale’s opening must have come as quite a shock to Beethoven’s audience. It was the first time in which piccolo, trombones and contrabassoon had been featured together in an orchestral work, and they are part of the orchestral explosion which occurs after the crescendo at the end of the third movement. In contrast to much of the rest of the symphony, the last movement’s themes are optimistic and joyful. A momentary reprise of the third movement theme, and a recapitulation of the Finale’s opening, lead to an accelerated coda and triumphant ending.
Franz Schubert grew up in the most important symphonic center of his time, Vienna. Schubert’s teachers, Salieri and Holzer, were primarily opera composers; but Schubert’s inner drive propelled him to an amazing and early symphonic output.
Schubert composed nine symphonies before he was thirty. Beethoven was already thirty before he wrote his first symphony. (Like Mozart when he wrote the A major violin concerto, Schubert was a teenager when he wrote the first symphony, a mere lad of 16.) Schubert, also like Mozart, was an accomplished violinist and played concertmaster in his school orchestra.
One can see the influence of the Viennese symphonic models his school orchestra rehearsed and performed — Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven — especially in the rhythmic drive of the first movement. The second theme, particularly, carries an almost Eroica-like character.
The second movement is truly a bridge between the customary elegance of Mozart and the beginnings of a new consciousness in art of the time: a certain heavier, darker mood permeates this movement, whose depth is so startling for having been written by an adolescent. The third movement shows more of the experimentation in moving into remote key areas for which Schubert became known, particularly in his chamber music and songs.
The symphony comes to a close in a vibrant movement which also shows the young composer’s emerging formal innovation. Yet, the personality of the master makes an unmistakable impression at the beginning of the last movement: it reminds one much of many of Schubert’s joyous song ideas.
Ludwig van Beethoven was aware that he was following in the footsteps of giants as he began composing his first symphony. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, already dead eight years in 1799, had blazed across the musical firmament like a meteor, leaving lesser composers despondent and scrambling to incorporate his stylistic innovations. Franz Josef Haydn, still active in Vienna, was famous as the “Father of the String Quartet” and brought the symphony to a perfection recognized in all the capitals of Europe.
Beethoven’s first effort at symphonic writing built squarely upon the work of these two models: four movements in the order Fast-Slow-Minuet-Fast; a texture in which the melody dominates, but with digressions into the older, contrapuntal style; harmonies which were clearly delineated, changed slowly, but served always to propel the music forward; above all, a sense of balance and proportion in all the aspects of composition. What Beethoven could only have suspected, but that we now know, is the craft, inspiration, power, and vigor that he poured into the form handed down to him.
The work we hear today is in no sense a youthful experiment, but it is instead a fully-developed masterwork by a young genius, and has earned a place among the great monuments of musical art.
In an astonishing burst of energy, Mozart composed his last 3 symphonies (Nos. 39, 40 and 41) in 1788 in a space of just six weeks.
The last of these three, the “Jupiter,” is grand and majestic in style. Written in C Major, it is complex in structure and form, as well as in its exploration of keys and harmonies. An imposing 5-note initial theme opens the work, setting the stage for rich musical development, alternately elegant and impassioned.
The poignant Andante cantabile opens with a lyrical rising theme by the muted violins. It is taken up in turn by the other instruments and interspersed against running scale-like passages.
After a refined Menuetto and Trio, the magnificent last movement opens with a transparent four-note theme in the violins. From this seemingly simple beginning, other themes are introduced, all of which in turn Mozart weaves into a complex tapestry of musical counterpoint. The total effect is at once grand, elegant, extraordinarily complex, and musically fulfilling.
This is one of the best-known and most programmatic symphonies in classical music.
Composed in 1808, it reflects Beethoven’s deep feeling for nature, no doubt due in some measure to his numerous walks in the countryside around Vienna. Each of the five movements is subtitled and reflects a particular mood.
The first movement allegro (“awakening of joyful feelings on arriving in the country”) is announced by the violins, and in turn taken up by winds and the full orchestra. “Scene at the brook” features a rustling accompaniment of second violins, violas and solo ‘cellos set against melodic motifs in the first violins and winds. Rustic dances are featured in the “happy gathering of the country folk” which follows.
The dramatic “thunder, storm” movement, with sudden bursts by timpani and brass, suddenly interrupts the country revels. Then the storm departs, the sun breaks through, and the “shepherd’s song,” with “happy and thankful feelings after the storm,” takes us to the end of this musical journey.
On his first trip to the British Isles in 1829 Mendelssohn paid a visit to Scotland, which made a deep impression on him and inspired several future compositions. In 1842, he completed his “Scottish” Symphony (his last symphony) and dedicated it to the young Queen Victoria.
While not programmatic, the symphony is atmospheric and contains many original elements. One of its most striking features is that it is meant to be played continuously – with no break between movements – which was unusual for the time. The first movement opens with a slow introduction in the winds and violas followed by an agitated allegro based upon the opening theme. A recapitulation of the slow opening serves as a transition to the sprightly scherzo, with its alternating dance themes in the winds and strings.
The following adagio is in the style of a “song without words,” with a lyrical theme alternating with a stern foreboding one.
The last movement opens with an agitated, onrushing series of passages before transitioning to a fugue-like section and a quiet transition featuring a clarinet-bassoon duo. The movement closes with a majestic rolling theme, in the major key, full of joy and hope.
In 1790, just two months after the death of Haydn’s employer, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy (for whom Haydn served for more than 40 years, with only brief interruptions), the violinist and impresario Johann Peter Salomon arrived in Vienna to convince Haydn to travel with him to London.
Haydn, now without permanent work and living as a freelance artist, agreed and made the first of two visits to London, composing six symphonies for this event. He paid a second visit for the 1794/1795 season, and again the principal event was a series of concerts with six new symphonies.
In contrast to his small orchestra at the Esterházy estate, the London orchestra of Salomon was a full-sized orchestra, providing Haydn with new possibilities. As a result, he composed the 12 symphonies (nos. 93-104) that count among the best he had ever written: The London Symphonies.
When Haydn finally returned to Vienna, in 1795, it was as a financially and artistically successful composer.
First performed in 1794, Symphony No. 101 is part of these famous London Symphonies, composed for his second stay in London. The second movement is responsible for the symphony’s nickname, “The Clock”: you can hear the clock-like tick-tack, introduced by the bassoons and string pizzicato, throughout the movement.
Arriaga, who lived from 1806 to 1826, showed an early talent for a musical career. Known as “the Spanish Mozart,” he was born in Bilbao in northern Spain, and composed his only opera (Los Esclavos Felices) at the age of 14.
Arriaga’s talent so impressed Bilbao’s notables that they sent him to study in Paris in 1821, where he composed three string quartets and this symphony before his untimely death from tuberculosis at age 19.
Arriaga wrote his Symphony in D Major in 1824-5. It is a work with decided influences reminiscent of Schubert and Mozart, especially in its use of keys and harmonies. The opening adagio intersperses solo wind passages with brooding string motifs; this segues into an impassioned allegro, dramatically in the minor key. The andante is conventionally classical in form, but shows an inventive use of woodwinds and unusual string passagework. A minuetto and trio follows, the latter with solo flute and guitar-like string pizzicato effects.
The last movement opens again in the minor key, with an Italianate violin theme. A delightful second theme follows (again in the violins). A return to the major key heralds the triumphant finale.
