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Our Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati leads the Orchestra in Mozart’s three final symphonies. These essential but ever-changing cornerstones of the SCO’s repertoire will be played on gut strings, natural horns, natural trumpets and period timpani, bringing you closer to the sound world of Mozart’s time in these Classical masterpieces.

Mozart’s Last Symphonies

by Svend brown

Why listen to three symphonies in one evening? It is a question worth posing because even thinking about doing such a thing is quite a recent phenomenon. Mozart himself would not have proposed it: in his own concerts a single symphony would usually be split up so that the first two and last two movements framed a sequence of other orchestral, chamber or operatic music. Performances might also be interrupted by encores, which in those days meant literally that the encored movement was repeated right away. All in all, the notion we now cherish, of the symphony as a cohesive, extended musical experience (with no clapping between the movements – also a relatively recent development) would have surprised Viennese listeners in 1788 when Mozart wrote these three pieces – even if the music itself has such a degree of

he was at the height of his powers and nothing reflects the astounding fertility of his mind better than the flow of ideas, melodies, colours and inventions they contain

musical integrity as to suggest that the composers wished things were otherwise.

So why do it? The simple answer is that hearing these three pieces together gives us a rare treasure Mozart’s audience never had: to follow him as he brings his staggering powers to bear on the symphonic form in three magnificently complementary ways. These are not just any three pieces plucked from a shelf at random. Mozart wrote them over the summer of 1788, completing them in June, July and August respectively, so they are close siblings. He was at the height of his powers and nothing reflects the astounding fertility of his mind better than the flow of ideas, melodies, colours and inventions they contain. Also, they make a satisfying cycle: courtly and beguiling No 39; dark and troubled No 40; expansive and spiritual No 41. A glib summary, but it gives a tiny idea of the absorbing play of brilliance and drama they offer. Also, the stature of the works grows as you progress through them. No 39 is not only the shortest but also the lightest, while No 41 is the longest (around 30% longer than No 39) and arguably the greatest, making it a superb grand finale to the evening. So while there is no historical argument for performing them together, there is plenty of musical sense.

We may well ask why Mozart was writing grand pieces like this at all in 1788. It was a troubled time of West-East war, extreme weather, immigration crises and financial uncertainty: striking echoes of our own times make 1788 seem rather immediate. The national debt soared by around 1000%, dire economic hardship followed; tens of thousands of refugees fled Westwards to escape the war zone; there was civil strife and riots in the streets of Vienna... War was disastrous for the Viennese music business as many of the key customers – rich patrons who attended concerts, paid for lessons and bought music – fled the city. Mozart would normally write pieces like these symphonies for his own concerts to be presented in the Casino or Burgtheater. Perhaps the Emperor would attend giving him the cachet (and resulting in the cash) he so badly needed. In 1788 the

Emperor was at the Front. Any concerts Mozart may have had in mind never took place, and he was never again to know Vienna at peace, as he died before the war ended in 1791. Perhaps this explains why he wrote no more symphonies in his remaining three years, and why, of these three works, only No 40 seems to have been performed in his lifetime.

One of the marvellous hallmarks of these three pieces is Mozart’s marriage of ‘learned’, profound musical thinking with popular courtly dance tunes and the interplay of human drama that characterises his operas at their most glorious. Cast an eye across his catalogue of works to see what else he was writing and performing in 1788 and you find plenty of all three of these: courtly dances and arias that were bread and butter to him; performances of his operas; and there is also an unusually large number of canons – technical exercises undertaken to hone his skills in counterpoint and harmony. This advanced kind of musical thinking certainly did not make him popular, but it is purest gold to us as it made its way into his major works. No 41 was called ‘avec fugue’ on the title page of its first edition (the name ‘Jupiter’ came later) in recognition of the towering achievement of The wORLd in 1788

JanuaRY January 1 – London: The first edition of The Times is published.

January 18 – Australia: The leading ship in Captain Arthur Phillip’s First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay to colonise Australia.

FebRuaRY February 9 – Austria enters the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92) and attacks Moldavia.

June June 7 – France: Day of the Tiles, considered by many to be the beginning of the French Revolution.

auguST August 27 – Edinburgh, Scotland: The trial of Deacon William Brodie for burglary begins. He is sentenced to death by hanging.

deCeMbeR December – Scotland: Robert Burns writes his version of the famous Scots poem Auld Lang Syne.

December 14 – two important figures die: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer and son of JS Bach (b. 1714) King Charles III of Spain (b. 1716)

the finale, one of the grandest and greatest movements in all music – and its fugue subject is as simple as can be – just four notes. It is a towering example of Mozart’s musical brilliance, but throughout these three symphonies you will find smaller but no less arresting moments of comparable sublime invention! ––––––Mozart – The Last Symphonies opens our 2016/17 Season with Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati 5-7 October 2016 Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow ––––––Proudly sponsored by