Symphony No. 29

Description

Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello, Double Bass — The distinguished British musicologist Stanley Sadie characterized Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 as "a landmark ... personal in tone, indeed perhaps more individual in its combination of anintimate, chamber music style with a still fiery and impulsive manner." It seems only natural that such an important work would come to find a home in the educational library of Carl Fischer as an introduction to young string players for both its playful melodies and bright musical brilliance. This first of the four movements is in the sonata form typical of Mozart’s early symphonies. Its graceful, yet playful first theme features an octave drop more associated with a loud spontaneous “guffaw” than with polite salon conversation. In the Fall of 1773 Mozart had just returned to Salzburg from a Viennese journey with his father, Leopold, to visit old friends and to attempt to find him some work. While he failed to gain any commissions from this journey, Mozart was introduced to the so-called “sturm und drang” (storm and stress) compositional style then being penned by a man who would become a mentor to him, Franz Joseph Haydn. While this work certainly does bear some influence of Haydn, music’s most jocular jester, its original playful nature is pure Mozart, and a work that is treasured by this arranger as high as any of his other numerous masterworks. This first movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201, this lighthearted “Allegro moderato” follows the sonata form typical of his early symphonies. Its graceful, yet playful first theme features an octave drop consistent with Mozart’s often jocular approach to melody. In 1773 Mozart had just returned from a Viennese journey where he was introduced to the “sturm und drang” (storm and stress) compositional style of his future mentor, Franz Joseph Haydn. While this work certainly does bear some influence of Haydn, its original playful nature is pure Mozart.

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