Conducted by Ton Koopman, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Wiener Philharmoniker) plays Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, K. 22. The composer was nine years old when he composed the piece in The Hague in December 1765. He was on his musical tour of Western Europe.
Mozart’s Symphony No. 5
The symphony is scored for two oboes, two horns, and strings. The form is that of a three-movement Italian overture:
- Allegro, 4/4
- Andante, 2/4
- Allegro molto, 3/8
All three movements are colored especially prominently by horns. A rousing first movement in the key of B-flat major opens the symphony, followed by a more solemn, mournful movement in the relative key of G minor. A short, boisterous finale closes the work. The opening theme to the finale is borrowed from the finale to the keyboard concerto by Johann Christian Bach whom Mozart had met the previous year in London. The same theme would also appear in a much later, more mature work of Mozart’s: the Act 2 Finale of his 1786 opera buffa, Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492.
Related: Mozart – Symphony No. 6 [Complete]
Sources
- Symphony No. 5 (Mozart) on Wikipedia
- Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in D major [Argerich, Pires] - March 17, 2024
- Thibaut Garcia plays Sacrificio [Sainz de la Maza] - March 16, 2024
- Schubert: Symphony No. 5 [NDR Elbphilharmonie, Günter Wand] - March 15, 2024