Subscription Concerts 2023-2024Program B
No. 1991 Subscription (Program B)

Mozart led a short but dense artistic life. He left us around fifty symphonies (including unnumbered ones) written over a quarter century, from No. 1 K. 16 penned in his childhood to No. 41 K. 551 Jupiter. They show us the evolution of his style from its starting point around the influence of Italian sinfonia (predecessor of the Classical symphony) with three fast-slow-fast movements. Of the middle period, No. 29 confirms a marked shift away to Viennese four-movement structure with a minuet movement, along with some contemporaries including No. 25 K. 183 “Little G minor.” The two masterpieces are often thought to anticipate Mozart’s supreme matureness in his last three symphonies (described below).
No. 29 was written by the eighteen-year-old composer in April 1774 in Salzburg, then his home, after his third five-month Italian tour and two-month stay in Vienna. Though the trips’ aim of obtaining a new job was not achieved, it is easy to imagine that the young Mozart absorbed a good deal at the leading centers of music. The distinctive features of No. 29 are the chamber-oriented transparent instrumentation (strings with only pairs of oboes and horns), the more-than-usual number of melodic elements which are sometimes treated in a polyphonic manner, as well as the thematic unification found between the outer movements in sonata form. To be more specific, the octave-dropping motif heads the first themes given at the outset of the opening and closing movements.

[Kumiko Nishi]

A magnum opus, Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2 remains uncertain when and how it was penned. Based on the most common view, it was born during his stay (October 1777 to March 1778) in Mannheim which was then celebrated for its outstanding, cutting-edge court orchestra. Through his friend Johann Baptist Wendling who was a flute player of the orchestra, Mozart received a set of commissions including three flute concertos from a wealthy Dutch amateur flutist. However, the number of concertos the composer rendered to his client was only two. Worse, one of the two – known today as Flute Concerto No. 2 – was a rework of his C-major Oboe Concerto (presumably written in April 1777). According to another view, this Flute Concerto was premiered prior to Mozart’s departure for Mannheim. At any rate, the work sounds as if it was originally written for flute, maximizing the potential and charm of the instrument which was still developing at the time.
Mozart heads the opening movement Allegro “aperto” (literally meaning “open”, “clear”, “frank”): this designation is rare but also found in some of Mozart’s early concertos. After violins introduce the two sonata themes, the flute solo enters in a bright and open manner to keep singing flowingly. The next slow movement fully exhibits the lyrical and melancholic nature of the flute, then the finale unfolds a high-spirited rondo with the recurrent perky theme given by the soloist at the beginning.

[Kumiko Nishi]

For Mozart, the year 1788 – three years before his death – was a hard one. Following his father’s passing in 1787, his daughter Theresia died prematurely in late-June 1788. It was also from this year that his financial situation in Vienna took a turn for the worse. He since asked his freemason fellow Michael Puchberg for loans repeatedly. Unable to pay rent, Mozart’s family ended up moving to a distant suburb in mid-June. Caught in this predicament, however, Mozart was incredibly prolific. In addition to many other pieces, he completed his last three symphonies in a phenomenally quick succession: No. 39 on June 26, No. 40 “Great G minor” K. 550 on July 25 and No. 41 Jupiter K. 551 on August 10, 1788.
One of the rarities of No. 39 is the presence of clarinets instead of oboes. Among his symphonic output besides No. 39, oboe is absent only in a few symphonies from the early 1770’s. As clarinet was a new instrument, he scored for it (as a pair) solely in late symphonies, namely in No. 31 Paris K. 297, No. 35 Haffner K. 385 and the revised version of No. 40 K. 550, always “with” oboes. His choice (and nonuse) of instruments thus makes the sound of No. 39 uniquely round.
No. 39 is also unique in that the first movement has an introduction and, moreover, it was an exceptionally-long, fairly-dissonant introduction for those days: this magnificent duple-time opening leads seamlessly to the cheerful main Allegro section in triple time. The minuet movement in A–B–A form is particularly known for its central section where two clarinets give a superb duet interjected by a flute. The lively finale in sonata form points toward both Mozart’s senior Haydn and his junior Beethoven with its monothematic approach: as the first theme presented by violins at the beginning is rephrased to be the second theme, this movement seems to seek an elaborate motivic development more than a thematic contrast.
Incidentally, Mozart often chose E-flat major for his freemasonic pieces, the best example of which is his last opera Die Zauberflöte (Magic Flute) (1791).

[Kumiko Nishi]