Symphony No. 5 (Mozart)
Encyclopedia
The Symphony
No. 5 in B-flat major, K.
22, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
in The Hague
in December, 1765
, at the age of nine, while he was on his musical tour of Western Europe
. Mozart fell seriously ill during his stay in Hague, and he wrote that composition probably while he was convalescing from his illness.
s, two horns
and strings
.
The form is that of a three-movement Italian overture:
All three movements are colored especially prominently by horns. A rousing first movement in the key
of B-flat major opens the symphony, followed by a more solemn, mournful movement in the relative key
of G minor
. A short, boisterous finale closes the work. The opening theme to the finale is borrowed from the finale to keyboard concerto by Johann Christian Bach
whom Mozart had met the previous year in London
. The same theme would also appear in a much later, more mature work of Mozart's: the Act 2 Finale of his 1786 opera buffa
, Le nozze di Figaro
, K. 492.
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
No. 5 in B-flat major, K.
Köchel-Verzeichnis
The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. It is abbreviated K or KV. For example, Mozart's Requiem in D minor was, according to Köchel's counting, the 626th piece Mozart composed....
22, was composed 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...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
in December, 1765
1765 in music
- Events :*The Bach-Abel concerts are founded.*The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is founded- Opera :*Samuel Arnold**Daphne and Amintor**The Summer's Tale*Georg Benda – Xindo riconnosciuto...
, at the age of nine, while he was on his musical tour of Western 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...
. Mozart fell seriously ill during his stay in Hague, and he wrote that composition probably while he was convalescing from his illness.
Structure
The symphony 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...
.
The form is that of a three-movement Italian overture:
- Allegro, 4/4
- Andante, 2/4
- Allegro molto, 3/8
All three movements are colored especially prominently by horns. A rousing first movement in the key
Key signature
In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental...
of B-flat major opens the symphony, followed by a more solemn, mournful movement in the relative key
Relative key
In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures. A major and minor scale sharing the same key signature are said to be in a relative relationship...
of G minor
G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....
. A short, boisterous finale closes the work. The opening theme to the finale is borrowed from the finale to keyboard concerto by Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
whom Mozart had met the previous year in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The same theme would also appear in a much later, more mature work of Mozart's: the Act 2 Finale of his 1786 opera buffa
Opera buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
, Le nozze di Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, K. 492.