Symphony No. 4 (Mozart)
Encyclopedia
The Symphony No. 4 in D major
, K. 19, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
was composed in London during the Mozart family's Grand Tour of Europe
in 1765, when Mozart was 9 years old.
, is preserved in the Bavarian State Library
in Munich. It is known today that the early symphonies by young Mozart were performed at the public concerts in the Little Haymarket Theatre
in London. It is therefore possible that these parts were written for one of these public performances, although Zaslaw
concludes that the work was composed or at least completed in The Hague.
s, two horns
and strings
.
There are three movements
, as was standard in the early classical music era
in which the child Mozart wrote, in the typical fast-slow-fast configuration. They are as follows:
D major
D major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature consists of two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor....
, K. 19, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
was composed in London during the Mozart family's Grand Tour of Europe
Mozart family grand tour
The Mozart family grand tour was a journey through western Europe, undertaken by Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted children Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus from 1763 to 1766. At the start of the tour the children were aged eleven and seven respectively...
in 1765, when Mozart was 9 years old.
Background
Even though the original of Mozart's manuscript has not survived, the set of parts written in the hand of his father, Leopold MozartLeopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...
, is preserved in the Bavarian State Library
Bavarian State Library
The Bavarian State Library in Munich is the central "Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria and one of Europe's most important universal libraries. With its collections currently comprising around 9.39 million books, it ranks among the best research libraries...
in Munich. It is known today that the early symphonies by young Mozart were performed at the public concerts in the Little Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
in London. It is therefore possible that these parts were written for one of these public performances, although Zaslaw
Neal Zaslaw
Neal Zaslaw is an American musicologist.Born in New York, Zaslaw graduated from Harvard in 1961 with a BA and obtained his master's from Juilliard in 1963. He played flute in the American Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski from 1962 to 1965. In 1970 he received his Ph.D from Columbia...
concludes that the work was composed or at least completed in The Hague.
Structure
The work is scored for two oboeOboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, two horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
and strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
.
There are three movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
, as was standard in the early classical music era
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
in which the child Mozart wrote, in the typical fast-slow-fast configuration. They are as follows:
- I. Allegro, 4/4
- II. Andante, 2/4
- III. Presto, 3/8