Symphony No. 1 (Mozart)

I. Molto allegro

The first movement opens with an exuberant unison fanfare; it is then answered quietly by a gentler accompanied passage accompanied by the basso continuo. The contrast between loud and soft passages here provides the movement's principal character.

In his book on the piano concertos, Cuthbert Girdlestone pointed out the similarity between the opening of this symphony and that of the Piano Concerto No. 22, K. 482, composed some twenty years later.^[8]

II. Andante

In the second movement, bars 7ff, Mozart uses the four note motif C–D–F–E which appeared in several of his later works, including his symphonies 33 and 41 "Jupiter", specifically the fourth movement of the latter.^[9] The horns play this theme above a slow, heavy bass line which likely reflects his concern for his father's severe illness.^[7] Marc Rochester suggests that shivering strings remind listeners of the cold English winter weather under which the symphony was composed.^[7]

III. Presto

The exuberant brief closing movement of the symphony, dominated by the horns and violins, according to Rochester, reflects the young Mozart's inability to stay serious for long.^[7] The strings play a brief unison figure exploring chromaticism, which audiences at the time found questionable.^[5]