Mozart - Symphony No. 31 "Paris", K. 297 (1778)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was one of the most influential, popular and prolific composers of the classical period. A child prodigy, from an early age he began composing over 600 works, including some of the most famous pieces of symphonic, chamber, operatic, and choral music.

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Symphony No. 31 in D major, "Paris", K. 297 (1778)

1. Allegro assai (0:00)
2. Andante (7:10)
3. Allegro (13:07)

Academy of Ancient Music conducted by Christopher Hogwood under the artistic direction of Jaap Schröder

Description by Joseph Stevenson [-]
After nearly four years during which time he wrote no symphonies (although still producing opera overtures and works which were extracted from orchestral serenades), Mozart composed this work for performance in Paris. He and his mother were in the city when Mozart received the commission from Joseph Legros, director of the Concerts. Despite a dismal rehearsal, the performance went well and the symphony was well received by the audience. Mozart had taken pains to write it in a style that would appeal to the French. It is written for the largest orchestra Mozart had used until then in a symphony: pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and kettledrums, and the usual strings. This marks the first time that Mozart used clarinets in a symphony. The symphony begins with the bold (and popular) gesture called the "coup d'archet," quick separated string chords. The second theme is lighter in mood. The development section mainly concerns itself with the first subject. The two themes of the second movement are solemn and high-minded, although there are variations that introduce a lighter mood. Mozart originally marked the movement Andantino, but it came to be called "Andante," which also is the marking for an alternate slow movement Mozart wrote at about the same time. The final movement begins quietly with a syncopated theme. The bassoons and strings have a contrasting theme. There is a lengthy working out of some of these ideas in the transition to the second subject, which when it comes is a fugato for strings. This idea is also the main basis of the development. The symphony ends with a restatement of the vivacious opening subject. When Mozart wrote his father concerning the success of the "Paris" Symphony, he mentioned that he had composed a second slow movement for the symphony. There has been some question as to which version was first played in Paris. The version published in Paris (believed to be the second version) has a time signature of 3/4; the version found in German autographs is in 6/8, with a graceful, cantilena theme.