Post by erik on Jan 1, 2023 0:42:31 GMT -5
The final Classical Works Spotlight for 2022 looks at one of the symphonies that Mozart composed while he was still living in Salzburg, a town that didn't have much use for one of its own (even a wunderkind) until he had long since shuffled off this mortal coil.
Mozart: SYMPHONY NO. 15 IN G MAJOR, K. 124
It is far too easy to take Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for granted these days because his genius is so obvious to us some two and a half centuries later. But in his teen years, the wunderkind had a very tough time getting any love from the hometown folks in Salzburg; and thus the only solace he could find was in composing music that he felt could stand scrutiny. Such was the case with his G Major 15th Symphony, composed in the first few weeks of 1772, right around the time he turned sixteen. The Salzburg years were among the most productive for Mozart when it came to the symphonic form, a form that his soon-to-be close friend Franz Josepjh Haydn had already shown considerable mastery of. Even at this stage of his career, Mozart had absorbed a fair amount from "Papa Haydn", notably the construct of a traditional four-movement symphony. The motivation for Mozart composing the 15th Symphony is not known, although the autograph manuscript indicates that it might have been intended for a religious occasion, possibly for the Archbishop of Salxburg. Despite being relatively small in scale, requiring an orchestra of only two oboes, two French horns, and the full string orchestra, the 15th Symphony shwows Mozart's continuing mastery as he reached the moment of official adulthood.
English Chamber Orchestra/SIR JEFFREY TATE (EMI)
Included:
THE COMPLETE MOZART SYMPHONIES
Mozart: SYMPHONY NO. 15 IN G MAJOR, K. 124
It is far too easy to take Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for granted these days because his genius is so obvious to us some two and a half centuries later. But in his teen years, the wunderkind had a very tough time getting any love from the hometown folks in Salzburg; and thus the only solace he could find was in composing music that he felt could stand scrutiny. Such was the case with his G Major 15th Symphony, composed in the first few weeks of 1772, right around the time he turned sixteen. The Salzburg years were among the most productive for Mozart when it came to the symphonic form, a form that his soon-to-be close friend Franz Josepjh Haydn had already shown considerable mastery of. Even at this stage of his career, Mozart had absorbed a fair amount from "Papa Haydn", notably the construct of a traditional four-movement symphony. The motivation for Mozart composing the 15th Symphony is not known, although the autograph manuscript indicates that it might have been intended for a religious occasion, possibly for the Archbishop of Salxburg. Despite being relatively small in scale, requiring an orchestra of only two oboes, two French horns, and the full string orchestra, the 15th Symphony shwows Mozart's continuing mastery as he reached the moment of official adulthood.
English Chamber Orchestra/SIR JEFFREY TATE (EMI)
Included:
THE COMPLETE MOZART SYMPHONIES