Now, many of you might be wondering, “He skipped No. 37. Why did he do that?” That is because, technically, “his” Symphony No. 37 is not his. He took it from a composer friend named Michael Haydn, and all Mozart did with the piece was add an introduction to the first movement. So, we are going to skip that and venture a few years later, when Mozart’s career was still at its height. Mozart premiered this symphony in Prague, which is where people absolutely loved Mozart. In fact, it was his opera, “Le Nozze di Figaro,” or “The Marriage of Figaro,” that received the most praise out of all his works. He claimed that people in the streets would only be talking about or even singing tunes from his critically acclaimed opera. That is why the main motif of the last movement is probably the most interesting out of everything in this symphony; Mozart cleverly adds an easter egg that relates to Figaro. There is a very frantic duet (“Aprite, presto, aprite”) between the characters, Susanna and Cherubino, where Cherubino ends up jumping out of a window to escape Count Almaviva (Don’t worry. This opera is a comedy, so he survives!). These scurrying, syncopated motifs that are throughout this short duet appear in the Prague Symphony’s final movement and are actually the central motifs of the whole movement. It is really cool that Mozart left that hidden detail for the people of Prague, as it must have brought them so much joy when they recognized the familiar theme. The top image is the beginning of the frantic duet from my Dad’s score of “Le Nozze di Figaro,” and the second image is the beginning of the Finale from my score of the Prague Symphony. Listen to both of these pieces, even if it is just the beginning of each, and one can hear the motivic similarities.

This second of the late symphonies was composed in 1783, when he was traveling back home to Vienna from Salzburg and made a quick stop at Linz. In my opinion, this is an underrated piece of music, and actually, it is my favorite of all of Mozart’s symphonies. There is so much in this symphony one could talk about: its gripping introduction and energetic, march-like first movement, the wonderful and graceful slow movement, the aristocratic minuet, and the fun finale full of counterpoint. My favorite movement of this symphony is the Poco Adagio movement. It is in the form of a Siciliano, which was a dance that was in the compound meter (6/8 in this case) and evoked a natural or pastoral quality. However, the movement I will focus on for this time is the finale, where I got to connect two pieces that I know and love. I have played and loved his Piano Sonata No. 13 for years now. Coincidently, this piece was also given the name the “Linz” Sonata, as they were both written on his short stop when returning home to Vienna. Both of these pieces are not only connected by name, but also by the actual music too. There is one specific quotation of his sonata that he makes in the finale of his symphony, which is actually a specific motif used throughout the sonata. The first image below is the sonata, and the second image is the symphony. Look at how similar the notes’ patterns are. I encourage everyone to listen to these two pieces (the First Movement of Sonata No. 13 in B Flat Major and the Fourth Movement of Symphony No. 36 in C Major), and look out for these passages. I have not figured out how to make recordings of certain pieces yet to put them on the blog, but I’ll try to get that figured out for next time.

The first of Mozart’s late symphonies was written for a commission from his childhood friend, Sigmund Haffner, who was going through a process of ennoblement. This symphony does not shy back from its monarch-like and aristocratic nature, as all the movements have some sort of royal aspect to them; the first movement has the great boldness of a monarch, the second movement has a gentle and rich atmosphere to it, the third movement is an almost imperial and forceful form, and the fourth movement is full of celebration and triumph. This symphony took me almost a full year to annotate it, since I wanted every one of my notes to be perfect. Through this process, I have learned more about how to mark up a score, and how those skills will help me become better prepared when I’m studying for my performances. To show you what I spend a lot of my time doing, I will post the first page of my score to the “Haffner” Symphony. Now, with this score, there are probably an excessive amount of notes because of this being my first time to actually mark up a score. Many of the notes on the bottom of the staff lines are music theory notes, which a conductor doesn’t always need to use. (However, it is important for any musician to have a basic knowledge of music theory.) In this category, I will end the post with one thing in each score I have studied that really sticks out and makes the music interesting and cool. I’ve circled a lot of the dotted rhythms because of their relevance to nobility. It was common back then that when a dotted rhythm was used, it signified royalty or triumph, which always was associated with the person in power. Since this symphony was dedicated to a nobleman, the dotted rhythms can be found everywhere, as it certainly fits the occasion.

What would my life be without Mozart? He has given me so much: my first opera, my favorite opera, and these wonderful symphonies that have been the first scores I have annotated. I have marked up three of his symphonies now! There is a huge difference between just reading a score and actually studying a score. I love reading scores, but I really love studying them. Note-taking or annotating can be a boring process for some in different subjects, but for me, drenching my scores in notes has been one of the most challenging things I have ever done, and it never bores me. Even though my head can hurt really badly and it is a lot of work, this will help me become better prepared for when I may conduct these pieces. I would certainly hope to do the later symphonies of Mozart because they are so fundamental in the symphony repertoire. They may not be as big as Beethoven’s Nine Symphonies, but they are surely important in how they strengthened the Classical Era as a whole. These will be the first scores that I will talk about on this blog, and hopefully, we can move on to the Beethoven Symphonies after! My next post, which will come out soon, will be on the very first score I ever marked up, the “Haffner” Symphony (No. 35).