Classical Music Discoveries

Symphony No. 30 in D Major was composed in Salzburg and completed on May 5, 1774. This 4-movement symphony is scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets and strings. The original tympani part was lost and several attempts have been made to reconstruct the missing part without any agreed success by musicologists. The first movement is in sonata form and opens with a falling, dotted fanfare motif. A transitional section follows which contains a dialogue between violins and bass alternating between loud and soft dynamics and ending with a trill. The second theme group of the sonata-form structure contains two sections. The first is a ländler scored for two violins against bass while the second is a minuet for the tutti featuring trills on almost every beat. The expositional coda returns to the ländler style. The development focuses on the minuet-style with the phrase-lengths elongated. Following the recapitulation, the movement coda returns to this minuet and regularizes its phrase-lengths before the final cadence. In the trio of the minuet, the first violin is syncopated an eighth-note ahead of the accompaniment. The finale starts off with a falling dotted fanfare motif similar to the one that starts the opening movement. The answering phrase and the movement's second theme have a contradanse character. Symphony No. 31 in D Major is better known as the Paris Symphony and is one of Mozart’s more famous symphonies. This symphony may have been the first of Mozart’s symphonies to be published in 1779. This 3-movement symphony was composed in 1778 when Mozart was 22 years of age. The premiere took place on June 12, 1778 in a private performance for Count Sickingen. The public performance took place 6 days later. The original 2nd movement, which is marked Andantino was replaced by an Andante movement on August 15th. In this recording you will first hear the original 2nd movement and then the much shorter replacement. The original 2nd movement was said “not to please” the audience. However, we leave it up to you as to which movement you prefer. Since the Paris audience liked their symphonies “loud”, as per Leopold Mozart, the symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, timpani and the regular complement of strings. This was Mozart’s first symphony to feature clarinets which he would champion into the orchestral format. We want to remind our listening audience that these symphonies may be purchased on Amazon and Itunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/complete-mozart-edition-symphonies/id118401915?app=music&ign-mpt=uo%3D4