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May 12, 2015
1. Introduction
In this essay, the first two movements of Mozarts (1756-1791) Jupiter Symphony (1788)
will be analyzed. First, context about the origins of the work will be given, including a general
historical evaluation of the work according to its place in musical history as well as the authors
aesthetic judgment of taste.
2. Origin of the Work
What we know about the origins of Mozarts Symphony K. 551, also know as the Jupiter
Symphony, or Symphony No. 41 in C Major, was that it was completed on August 10, 1788 in
Vienna. Mozart, unlike composers like Schubert, never wrote musical compositions on a whim
(Schwarm, 2011, p. 20). He was always motivated to write pieces on commission, or because he
knew the work would be performed. It was this business model that formed the career of the
composer. It is not known whether Mozart made money for his work on the Jupiter Symphony.
While Mozart wrote extensive letters and journal entries about his earlier works, the historical
record is empty when it comes to the production history of the Jupiter. Most likely the
combination of Mozarts need for money, and his declining health, as well as the reality of
feeding and housing a large family, were external stressors that did not allow him to record the
details of his works progress. Needless, to say, the work output of Mozarts later years was not
hampered by his external circumstances.
3. The Jupiter
The Jupiter was Mozarts last symphony and it was neither published nor performed
during his lifetime. Why the symphony is called the Jupiter Symphony is not known, but
scholars tend to agree the name was not known to Mozart himself, and was most likely a
sobriquet given to the symphony that was English in origin (Woodfield, 2006, p. 44). In fact,
according to the Oxford Dictionary of Music, the Jupiter name probably came from the 1821
Philharmonic Society of London concert, in which Bishop conducted (Jupiter Symphony,
2014). It was this 1821 performance that the symphony most likely had its first recorded
performance, long after Mozarts death. Until this time, the score had not been published, and
there is no public record of Mozart having a public performance of the work.
4. Theme
The main theme of the symphony makes no hesitation in appearing at the very beginning.
The theme is not a hummable theme nor can it be whistled, but it is memorable. There is no
introductory music to this symphony. The theme comes bursting out in the first several bars, and
it is softened by the use of the violins. Since the the Jupiter Symphony is the largest and most
complex of Mozarts symphonies it is not possible to lay out all the details of the work in this
essay, although we can point out its salient feature. It is interesting that the piece is called the
Jupiter, named after the Roman God of wine and the name of the chief god. We are apt to
approach the piece as jovial like Jupiter.
5. C Major
It is often the key of C major that music students first learn when studying music. Mozart
uses this rather conventional key to set the tone for the work. It is important to point out
thatAlthough today we think of C major as the plainest and most basic of keys all white
notes on the piano in the late 18th century it was usually associated with court and highchurch pomp since it was well suited to the valveless trumpets of the period (Bedell,
2013).However we have to take the fact that it was written heartily in the celebratory key of C
Major as no indication that this piece will work for a military parade or for the procession of the
gods (Jupiter Symphony, 2014).
The overall quality of the symphony is its compositional texture. As Eisen has pointed
out, Mozart brought to the symphony orchestra a new understanding of its possibilities both as a
corporate body and as a collection of individuals. As in the first movement, we can easily point
out the individual sounds of the instruments, which by the end of the second movement come
together in a splendid semin-finale. How do we go from the first movements bursts of sound, to
the second movements more grandiose and symphonic texture? Mozart is able to arrange the
symphony to work like a body, going from what Eisen calls its most intimate and chamber
music-like, similar to the opening of Mozarts 40th Symphony (Eisen, 2014). In the Jupiter,
the textures and gestures are in full range, and the listener is able to follow the work like the
poem, even though it lacks a poetic text, or a vocal harmony.
11. Conclusion
During the period he wrote his great Jupiter symphony in C Major, Mozart was under
severe financial stress, but the last symphonies he wrote, including the Jupiter, is described by
von Hildebrand as confrontation with a world of spirituality, masterful shaping, light, and
noblest beauty (Von Hildebrand, p. 204). Mozarts work, and especially the Jupiter, are often
clouded by the admiration heaped on it by history that it is difficult to experience the work fresh.
Mozart has been compared to Shakespeare, as well as the defining figure of the classical music
zeitgeist (von Hildebrand, 2006, p. 189).
Regardless, Mozart stirs the emotion. Even if one has never heard the name Mozart,
listening to his work plays on the strings of the human soul. It was the philosopher Kierkegaard
who summed up Mozart the best:
You immortal one, to whom I owe everything, to whom I owe the loss of
my understandingthat my soul was stirred up and my innermost being
was shakento whom I owe my not having to walk through life as one
who is incapable of being deeply moved; you whom I thank for my not
having to die dying without having loved (qtd. in von Hildebrand, p.
191).
References
Bedell, Janet. 2013. All-Mozart: Mozart: Symphony No. 41, Jupiter. Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra. Accessed from
<https://www.bsomusic.org/calendar/events/2013-2014-events/all-mozart/mozart-symph
ony-no-41,-jupiter/>.
Eisen, E., Sadie, Stanley, et al. 2014. "Mozart." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.
Oxford University Press. Accessed from:
<http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40258pg3>.
Jupiter Symphony. 2015. Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Accessed from
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/308486/Jupiter-Symphony>.
"Jupiter Symphony." The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev.. Oxford Music Online.
Oxford University Press. Accessed from
<http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e5449>.
Rushton, J. 2014. "Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus." Ed. Alison Latham. The Oxford Companion to
Music. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed from
<http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/op/t114/e4576>.
Schwarm, B. 2011. Classical music insights: understanding and enjoying great music.
[Bloomington, Ind.], Trafford Pub.
von Hildebrand, D. 2004. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Translated by John Henry Crosby.
Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture. Vol. 7, No. 2, Spring, pp. 189-212.
Webster, J. "Sonata form." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University