Mozart: Symphony 31 - 34

 

When last we left Mozart, he had finished his travels to Italy and returned to work in Salzburg. In Volume 9, we pick up with Mozart four years later, where the composer is tired of Salzburg and is setting his sights on Paris, Mannheim, and Munich. Of course, each pursuit of employ dried up for the composer.

Symphony no. 31 & 34 both contain only three movements, yet they promise more compelling music than the Italian overtures we have seen earlier. Certainly, there is a musical confidence, and despite the unusual lack of inner repeats, minus the one Minuet and the final movements of K. 319 and K. 338, nothing sounds underdeveloped as they might have in earlier volumes.

I should mention this Da Capo Mozart Symphonies set does not include Mozart's Symphony no. 32 in G Major, K. 318. This work is an 8 minute 'In the style of an Italian Overture' symphony. And yet, such things have appeared on this cycle already, with plenty of room on this volume for its inclusion, so I still think of its absence as inexplicable. Oh well...

For those looking for my generalized thoughts, skip to the bottom. Otherwise, I will do a movement-by-movement breakdown of each symphony for those who wish to listen along. I provided a YouTube playlist at the very bottom of this blog post of these same performers I am listening to in order to make it easier to follow along with my thoughts.

Symphony no. 31 in D Major, K. 297 (300a)

Movement 1
Key: D Major
Meter: Common time
Tempo: Allegro assai; Fischer:  = 162
Winds: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, timpani

Goodness, look at the wealth of wind instruments Mozart writes for! Not only are trumpets paired up with timpani once again, but Mozart further includes clarinets.

If one used the term explosive at the opening of this symphony, I would not aggrieve them one bit, for this work makes a huge racket. Swooshing scales make a big impact across the symphony, where Mozart not only opens and closes with them, dauntingly underscored by timpani rolls and thwacks, but inserts scales throughout as a musical device.

A second theme of witty little demisemiquaver decorations permeate the scaleless areas, contrasting the bombast of the opening idea. As if channeling Haydn, Mozart interrupts the musical action with a curious rest, picking back up much quieter and calmer than where the music was leading before. This comes back later a time or two, so it is obvious the composer is using silence on purpose here.

Mozart seems to add little developmental areas whether we are in the development section or not. The recapitulation contains most of this, and by golly, if the Coda isn't a much larger section than usual. Since there are no exposition repeats, it is a little tougher for me to follow Mozart's structures, as he goes off the formal rails a time or two.

Movement 2
Key: G Major
Meter: 6/8
Tempo: Andante; Fischer: . = 44
Winds: flute, oboe, bassoon, horn

The second movement contains two curious musical exaggerations. The first one is a loud, high-pitched cartoon laugh in the violins, while the other is a heavily-dotted stamping rhythm. Why do these need to break up the easy-going lilt? I am not sure I have completely come to terms with this question.

Ádám Fischer includes an alternate second-movement Andante, which he takes at a much brighter pace. Truth be told, I enjoy this alternate movement more, a change I assume Mozart made due to unreceptive Parisian audiences.


Movement 3
Key: D Major
Meter: Cut time
Tempo: Allegro; Fischer: 𝅗𝅥 = 146
Winds: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, timpani

Two brief contrapuntal sections break up a movement which is rather fleet on its feet. Some syncopated rhythms in the 1st violins confuse the location of the beat for the listener right at the outset; other than that, the only other aspect which jumps out at me is the music's rather jolly spirit.

I realize I hardly allotted any time to the 'Paris' moniker, leaving it to go unnoticed. Mozart was hopeful for employment in Paris, but like Munich and Mannheim when he returns home, came to nothing. We can, however, feel the effects of a symphony directed towards Gallic audiences here, as we did with his travels to Italy so this remains a singular work in the genre for the composer.

Symphony 33 in B-flat Major, K. 319

Movement 1
Key: B-flat Major
Meter: 3/4
Tempo: Allegro assai; Fischer:  = 176
Winds: oboe, bassoon, horn

As if making up for the ruckus he caused in the Paris Symphony, Mozart is back to lightness and delicacy.

There is a wonderfully orchestrated crescendo at the end of the first thematic area, one which bears a bass pedal, on-beat accents, and rising-in-pitch motion. As if on cue, Mozart once again utilizes silence in this first section as well, a wonderful trait the composer continues.

The second theme is descending and more chromatically angular. Mozart will use this motive to good effect at the very end of the work, where again, he is quite developmental in the recapitulation.

It is a good thing Fischer doesn't take this movement any faster, for I wasn't sure if the strings would be able to articulate the triplet quavers which show up later in the movement. They do... but just barely.


Movement 2
Key: E-flat Major
Meter: 2/4
Tempo: Andante moderato; Fischer:  = 50
Winds: oboe, bassoon, horn

I love when Mozart opens the slow movement with the strings in their low-to-mid registers, where the Danish National Chamber Orchestra give such a warm rendering of this area too. And listen to that bass line walking around all over the place.

The second section is more violin centered and doesn't grab me as much, but it does contrast the opening well enough. Towards the middle of the movement, Mozart has each string section answer imitatively in a marvelous way, only to have the winds do the same on that music's immediate restatement.

Luckily, the opening material returns at the very end, for if it hadn't, I would have been mightily disappointed. I should mention, the wind doublings do make quite a difference here, with the flute and bassoon particularly adding some color.


Movement 3
Key: B-flat Major & G Major (Trio)
Meter: 3/4
Tempo: Menuetto; Fischer:  = 164
Winds: oboe, bassoon, horn

My, my, does Fischer have the violins lean into portamento at the start of the Minuet. It sounds like a mix of donkey and cat screech. The Hungarian conductor does not have them repeat this effect in the second section of the Minuet, and I am not sure if that is better or not. Mozart does pepper winds ideally into this second section as well.

It is not often Mozart keeps the same key into the Trio, but he does so here. In that way, the Trio is almost an extension of the Minuet instead of a separate section. Fischer varies the musical texture by assigning solos to the strings instead of the entire ensemble, always a welcome attribute. Also, Fischer adopts a pulling back of tempo in the second section of the Trio, another wonderful folksy trait from these players.


Movement 4
Key: B-flat Major
Meter: 2/4
Tempo: Allegro assai; Fischer:  = 192
Winds: oboe, bassoon, horn

While Mozart is back to the light-on-its-feet final movement, I think the composer is much more successful melodically than he was at the end of the Paris Symphony. There is almost an Italianate operatic quality here, especially in the second thematic area.

A light amount of overlapping imitative textures appear in the development or post-repeat section. I didn't mention when this same texture appeared in K. 297 (where I think the composer did it better), but this is a textural technique from the composer I was wishing for in Volume 8, so Mozart has indeed matured and I relish its presence here.

Oh my... Fischer uses col legno before the development, giving the music an unexpected marching quality, almost as if the lower strings are goosestepping within the moment. Well, if nothing else, the extra string technique adds plenty of character to the ending of this symphony.

Symphony 34 in C Major, K. 338

Movement 1
Key: C Major
Meter: Common time
Tempo: Allegro vivace; Fischer:  = 160
Winds: oboe, horn, trumpet, timpani

Fischer incites a pompous British opening to this symphony, perhaps due to the regalia of trumpet and timpani appearing again. This is not unwelcome, for it again provides a different character amongst these symphonies. If I counted 160 beats per minute correctly, this tempo doesn't actually occur until after this initial statements, which I clock in more towards 140bpm.

Once again, Mozart is very giving in the way of rest and silence, here making for dramatic effect at the start. After some meticulous noodling around, the composer almost breaks into a country dance at one point. He is certainly adept at mixing seriousness and humor, heaviness and lightness, all within mere minutes of each other.

Here Mozart seamlessly transitions to the development, and of course when the recapitulation is announced, he is not afraid to add yet more developmental ideas as he gears up towards the conclusion.

In the end, this music sounds much more complex structurally than I am used to from early Mozart. Again, this could be due to the lack of structural repeats, making me work harder at identification, but even the chromaticism and wending in and out of minor seems to be ramped up here as well.


Movement 2
Key: F Major
Meter: 2/4
Tempo: Andante; Fischer:  = 64
Winds: bassoon

Written for strings alone, there is an intimacy to the orchestration here, although the music itself is rather bright and cheery, an odd dichotomy. Most of the work is being shouldered by the violins duetting, although I notice the composer divides the violas here, for an added depth of strings.

Mozart allows for bassoon doubling in this movement, yet I don't think I detect it being utilized by Fischer and the Danes. My missing its presence could be a subtle balance compared to how the bassoon normally sounds out in these recordings, but I think that instrument is not playing here at all.


Movement 3
Key: C Major
Meter: 6/8
Tempo: Allegro vivace; Fischer: . = 182
Winds: oboe, horn, trumpet, timpani

I enjoy the little snatch of melody the 1st violins are afforded amidst all of the swirling scales. While the oboes are given some fast moments to themselves as well, I think I tire of the endless scalular and arpeggiated motion in this movement.

Fischer injects a tiny bit of storminess in the short developmental section, allowing the timpani to really strike out around a short minor-keyed area. Otherwise, I think this movement is just a taddy-bit overlong.

Final Thoughts

I definitely detect a maturing of compositional style from Mozart, something I can really appreciate coming from the previous eight volumes of his early symphonies. That said, I don't know if any of these would be favorites of mine.

Clearly, Ádám Fischer and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra approach this music with unalloyed joyful abandon, a theme which has run across all of their performances in this symphony cycle. If some might abjure to their quick tempos and thrusting attacks, these symphonies are performed as all of a piece, providing a whole-cycle scheme rather than a pick and choose symphony format. And this is a musical element I can get behind.

My only regret is there are only three volumes left, each containing two symphonies. My guess is these symphonies have been either a labor of love for the composer or a precipice to show off his composing talents in order to secure gainful employment from possible future employers. Either way, listeners should feel gifted for his symphonic contributions. I know I am.

Works
Symphony 31 in D Major, K. 297 (15.07)
    - alternate Andante movement (3.33)
Symphony 33 in B-flat Major, K. 319  (21.11)
Symphony 34 in C Major, K. 338 (19.57)

Performers
Danish National Chamber Orchestra
Ádám Fischer, conductor

Label: Da Capo
Year: 2013
Total Timing: 60.08

 

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