Symphony No. 5 (Mozart)
1765 symphony by W. A. Mozart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Symphony No. 5 in B♭ major, K. 22, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in The Hague in December 1765, at the age of nine, while he was on his musical tour of Western Europe.[1] Mozart fell seriously ill during his stay in The Hague, and he wrote this symphony probably while he was convalescing from his illness.[1]
| Symphony No. 5 | |
|---|---|
| by W. A. Mozart | |
Mozart at the time he composed the symphony | |
| Key | B♭ major |
| Catalogue | K. 22 |
| Composed | December 1765, The Hague |
| Duration | 8 minutes |
| Movements | 3 |
| Scoring | Orchestra with continuo |
It is Mozart's shortest symphony, lasting only 8 minutes – one minute less than his 32nd which lasts 9 minutes.
Music
The symphony is scored for two oboes, two horns in B♭, strings, and basso continuo.
The form is that of a three-movement Italian overture:
All three movements are coloured especially prominently by horns. A rousing first movement in the key of B♭ 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 keyboard concerto by Johann Christian Bach whom Mozart had met the previous year in London.[2] 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.[3]
Discography
Below is an incomplete list of recordings of the symphony:
| Year | Conductor | Orchestra | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Neville Marriner | Academy of St. Martin in the Fields | Philips Classics |
| 1991 | Charles Mackerras | Prague Chamber Orchestra | Telarc |
| 1995 | Nicholas Ward | Northern Chamber Orchestra | Naxos |
| 2013 | Ádám Fischer | Danish National Chamber Orchestra | Dacapo Records |
