Page 130 - (DK) The Classical Music Book - Big Ideas Simply Explained

128

IN CONTEXT
THE MOST FOCUS

Innovation in the Classical
TREMENDOUS GENIUS symphony

BEFORE
1759–1795 Joseph Haydn
RAISED MOZART composes more than 100

symphonies in the four-
ABOVE ALL MASTERS movement format.
1764 Aged eight, Wolfgang

SYMPHONY NO. 40 IN G MINOR, K. 550 (1788), Amadeus Mozart composes
his First Symphony in E-flat
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART major, K.16.
AFTER
1803 Ludwig van Beethoven
completes his stormy, political
“Eroica” symphony.
1824 Beethoven finishes his
symphonic project with the
Ninth Symphony, including a
final movement featuring vocal
soloists and chorus.

y the beginning of the
1780s, Mozart had written
B more than 30 symphonies.
These works were influenced by
both musical and extra-musical
factors, including his work in the
archbishop’s court in his home city
of Salzburg, his tours of Italy’s
musical centers, his search for
employment in Munich and Paris,
and his visits to Mannheim, the
capital of the symphony during
the 18th century.

Classical zenith
After he settled in Vienna in
1781, Mozart wrote relatively few
symphonies, focusing instead on
piano concertos, chamber music,
and works for the theatre. Yet in
the summer of 1788, he wrote his

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