Symphony No. 8 (Mozart)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Symphony No. 8 in

K. 48), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is dated December 13, 1768.[1] Mozart wrote the symphony in Vienna, when he was twelve years old, at a time when he and his family were already due to have returned home to Salzburg. In a letter to his friend in Salzburg, Lorenz Hagenauer, Leopold Mozart says of the delay that "we could not bring our affairs to a conclusion earlier, even though I endeavored strenuously to do so."[1] The autograph of the Symphony No. 8 is today preserved in the Staatsbibliothek Preusischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin.[2]

Structure

The symphony is in four

French horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings. The inclusion of trumpets and timpani is unusual for Mozart's early symphonies. It has been described as a "ceremonial work".[3]


\relative c''' { \key d \major \time 3/4 \tempo "Allegro" d2.\f | a\p | d, | c,\f | b4~ b16 c a c b c a b | g8 g'4 g'8~ g16 e a g | }


There are four movements:

  1. Allegro, 3
    4
  2. Andante, 2
    4     G major
  3. Menuetto and Trio, Allegro, 3
    4
  4. Allegrissimo, 12
    8

The first movement begins with downward leaps on the

scale figures. These sets of figures alternate between strings and winds
.

The second movement is for strings alone and begins with a narrow melodic range which expands toward the end.

The third movement is a Minuet full of rapid string passages, and includes the trumpets and timpani, but not during the Trio.

The final movement is a gigue, whose main theme unusually does not end the movement.

References

  1. ^ a b Zaslaw, pp. 119–21
  2. ^ Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (2005). Die Sinfonien I. Giglberger, Veronika (preface), Robinson, J. Branford (transl.). Kassel: Bärenreiter-Verlag. pp. XII. ISMN M-006-20466-3
  3. ^ Kenyon, p. 154

Sources

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Symphony_No._8_(Mozart)&oldid=1212574597"