# What are Mozart's Best Early Symphonies and Why?



## Wolfgangus the Great (Jan 4, 2022)

By early, I mean from the 25th and after, and all the way up to the 34th.
So, what do you think are Mozart's best early Symphonies and why? :tiphat:


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

So by "early symphonies" you rather mean "some earlyish and some rather middle symphonies"... why? If 25 and after are early, what are 1-24? primeval?


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## Wolfgangus the Great (Jan 4, 2022)

Kreisler jr said:


> So by "early symphonies" you rather mean "some earlyish and some rather middle symphonies"... why? If 25 and after are early, what are 1-24? primeval?


Yeah, I don't find any of the symphonies prior to no. 25 anything of worth with a few exceptions.


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## Michael122 (Sep 16, 2021)

All of his symphonies from 25 to 34, roughly 1773 to 1780, were composed in Salzburg; the Paris symphony being the lone exception.
Not sure that this is truly his early period.
To me the standouts here are:

- The Little G Minor {#25}, his first symphony in a minor key and written in a “Storm and Stress” style, the concept of which interested him as soon as he found out about it,

- The Overture in Italian Style {#32}, his endeavor to do a symphony composed by a German that sounded Italian to fight the myth that nobody could do symphonies better than Italians, also, this may have been one his early efforts with reverse recapitulation and most importantly, obviously, 

- The Paris symphony {#31}, written at the lowest and darkest point of his life.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

A shame - I thought this was going to be about the early symphonies.


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## Wolfgangus the Great (Jan 4, 2022)

Michael122 said:


> All of his symphonies from 25 to 34, roughly 1773 to 1780, were composed in Salzburg; the Paris symphony being the lone exception.
> Not sure that this is truly his early period.
> To me the standouts here are:
> 
> ...


You didn't give an explanation for why you chose the Paris Symphony.


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

Wasn't Mozart a very small child of about seven or eight years old when he composed his first symphony? I could be wrong about that.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Wolfgangus the Great said:


> You didn't give an explanation for why you chose the Paris Symphony.


It is customary that if you start a thread with a question - you also answer your own question.

I did a thread recently asking to rank the last 8 Mozart piano concertos - I started the ball rolling by ranking Mozart's last 8 piano concertos.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Wolfgangus the Great said:


> You didn't give an explanation for why you chose the Paris Symphony.


I think it's the first symphony that somewhat reflects the Mannheim style, with its energetic rising scales with wild use of dynamics. The impressions of harmony in passages like 



 (and 4:14) / 



 are memorable to me. As other people have said, if you mean the real early symphonies, these are what we're supposed to talk about:
K.129: 



K.130: 



K.132: 



K.134: 






> Yeah, I don't find any of the symphonies prior to no. 25 anything of worth with a few exceptions.


If you're new to or not very invested in Mozart, it's common to dismiss them as trivialities, but they might "grow on you" with time and exposure (or might not, depending on your temperament). You might want to look at Mozart Early Symphonies


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Wolfgangus the Great said:


> Yeah, I don't find any of the symphonies prior to no. 25 anything of worth with a few exceptions.


I felt the same - though I thought 24 had a beautiful 2nd movement but having been through 1-24 several times - there are some real gems in there if you give them a chance. They certainly improve a lot from around K114 (symphony 14) but the earlier ones are worth exploring.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

I still think with the "early Salzburg style", the Salzburg master goes farther, in stuff like his 26th, (but Mozart eventually surpasses him, imv). It's interesting to look at Mozart's 5th 



and this work side by side 



 (8:00, 6:40) 
-sounds "deep and dark"; try playing it loudly with a good speaker.


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## Michael122 (Sep 16, 2021)

Wolfgangus the Great said:


> You didn't give an explanation for why you chose the Paris Symphony.


Didn't think such was necessary, given the heavyweight this one is among Mozart's symphonies.
Notwithstanding;
Mozart probably knew that he was going to have a greater number of instruments available to him than normal as he found this to be typical of Parisian orchestras.
He made good use of them and, for the first time, threw the entire compliment at this piece. It shows.
Off the bat #31, opens with one of the most sweeping, stirring and grand sounds Mozart ever commanded from an orchestra.
It is an accordance of harmony in forte D that is an absolute pyrotechnic of climbing scale.
The clarinet was a relatively new instrument which he heard for the first time just before his arrival in Paris. He was anxious to use it and did, to wonderful affect, for the first time, here.
31 offers us a beautiful blend of polyphony as well as counterpoint.
31 never tires or bores, no matter how many times you listen to it, and, it is nothing less than an absolute joy to attend it.


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