keenness of expression.[50] The nature of the case demands the
employment of quite other means to those of the E flat major symphony.
The outlines are more sharply defined and contrasted, without the
abundant filling-in of detail which are of such excellent effect in
the earlier work, the result being a greater clearness, combined with
a certain amount of severity and harshness. The instrumentation agrees
with it; it is kept within confined limits, and has a sharp, abrupt
character. The addition of clarinets for a later performance gave the
tone-colouring greater intensity and fulness. Mozart has taken an extra
sheet of paper, and has rearranged the original oboe parts, giving
characteristic passages to the clarinets, others to the oboes alone, and
frequently combining the two. No clarinets were added to the minuet.
Again, of a totally distinct character is the last symphony, in C
major (551 K., part 4), in more than one respect the greatest and best,
although neither so full of passion as the G minor symphony, nor so
full of charm as the E flat major.[51] Most striking is the dignity and
solemnity of the whole work, manifested in the brilliant pomp in the
first movement, with its evident delight in splendid sound-effects.:
It has no passionate excitement, but its tender grace is heightened by
a serenity which shines forth most unmistakably in the subject already
alluded to (Vol. II., p. 455, cf. p. 334), which occurs unexpectedly
at the close of the first part. The andante reveals the very depths of
feeling, with traces in its calm beauty of the passionate agitation and
strife from which it proceeds; the impression it leaves is one of moral
strength,
{MOZART'S INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.}
(38)
perfected to a noble gentleness. The minuet recalls to mind the cheerful
subject of the first movement. There is an elastic spring in its motion,
sustained with a delicacy and refinement which transports the hearer
into a purer element, where he seems to exist without effort, like the
Homeric gods. The finale is that masterpiece of marvellous contrapuntal
art, which leaves even upon the uninitiated the impression of a
magnificent princely pageant, to prepare the mind for which has been the
office of the previous movements. We recognise in the principal subject
which opens the movement--[See Page Images]
the motif of which Mozart made frequent use even in his youth (Vol. I.,
p. 259); here he seems anxious to bid it a final farewell. He takes it
again as a fugue subject, and again inverted:--
Then other motifs join in. One, in pregnant rhythm--
asserting itself with sharp accents in all sorts of different ways, and
connected with a third motif as a concluding section:--
All these subjects are interwoven or worked out with other subordinate
ideas, both as independent elements for
{SYMPHONIES.}
(39)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account