Mozart's Great G Minor Symphony

Symphony No.40 in G Minor, also known as the Great G Minor Symphony, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1788. It is one of only two symphonies he wrote in minor keys and reflects his interest in the artistic movement known as “Sturm und Drang” (Storm and Stress), in which darker and stronger emotions were showcased.

The year 1788 was a dark one for Mozart. Viennese audiences were proving less eager to hear his concerts and recitals, bills were piling up, and his infant daughter Theresia had just died. Letters to friends reveal that he was finding it difficult to look beyond the shadows, and some have suggested that this fact influenced this unusually anxious symphony.

Yet there is more at work here than one man’s daily sorrows. At this time in history, German and Austrian composers were increasingly drawn to the Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) movement, a school of thought that also affected artists and writers. In response, composers began producing works that were the audible expression of angst. Joseph Haydn wrote Sturm und Drang symphonies, frequently in the key of G minor that Mozart uses in this symphony. So did the Johann Christian Bach, youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, and this younger Bach who was living in London, had strongly influenced the young Mozart during his visit to England. In this atmosphere, it is no surprise that Mozart, too, turned, at least occasionally, to minor keys.
Symphony No.40 proves that Mozart’s music could so easily provoke delight could also spur tears.

However, it is only one of three symphonies Mozart would write in the summer of 1788, apparently at the eventually abandoned prospect of a concert tour to London. The other two symphonies, No.39 in E-flat Major and No.41 in C Major, are bright and sunny in nature. One might imagine that Mozart loaded his somber feelings into this one work, though even here, all is not sorrow. At no point in his career would Mozart allow music to stay long in sober moods.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No.40 in G minor, 1. Molto allegro
Performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan, Conductor

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