‘Symphony no. 41’ by Mozart is a display of compositional prowess. Mozart’s playing games in the music: his brilliant musical mind composes in a way that entertains the audience, the musicians, and himself. In this episode I share insights into the piece, we take a close look at the violin, and I discuss the virtuosity of composers.

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Hi! My name’s Scott Wilson. I’m a conductor and I’m passionate about classical music. In this podcast we discover the music of one of our greatest artforms. We listen to a new piece in each episode, I share insights into the music, and over time, I’ll take you on a journey through classical music’s composers, musicians, and history. Everything’s discussed in an easily digestible way, and no prior knowledge is needed. This podcast is for you!

Today we’re listening to ‘Symphony no. 41’ by the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This symphony exudes joy, and at the same time it’s a display of intellectual might. Mozart perhaps had the greatest musical mind of any composer to have ever lived, and this piece is a highlight amongst his many wonderful compositions. I hope you enjoy it!

[music excerpt]

Mozart’s music smiles; its energy is infectious; and Mozart is a composer of musical games. He plays with compositional material. He writes fragments of music - let’s call them themes - then he turns them around, plays them upside down, or he combines these themes with other themes that are also being manipulated in creative ways. He does this in order to entertain the audience and to inspire the musicians. When examined closely, the technical accomplishment in his compositions is astonishing. And the result of these musical games for the listener? Well, they seem to create an atmosphere that is boundlessly life-affirming. We’re listening to music that is in the realm of the greatest of human achievements.

So let’s have a listen. At the beginning you’ll hear a melody played by the first violins, whilst underneath rapid notes drive the music forwards.

[music excerpt]

It’s a thrilling beginning, isn’t it! It’s lively, bouncing from moment to moment, darting from one place to another with spontaneous abandon. Composing this piece in 1788, this is the work of a 32 year-old - but it has the essence of childhood playfulness. Mozart had been playing musical games for as long as he could remember. He was a child prodigy, performing throughout the major cities of Europe from the age of five, and at the same time he was composing. He wrote his first symphony at eight, and his first opera only a few years later. Mozart was one of humanity’s rare geniuses.

Let’s listen again to the beginning. You’re going to hear the four notes that I call the Stately Theme:

[music excerpt]

And that theme is usually followed by this music. It’s a kind of Call-to-Attention: 

[music excerpt]

Listen out for both of these themes now. They’re played by the violins, and you’ll hear them twice:

[music excerpt]

Now, there’ll be plenty of time to listen-out for these themes: they’re two of the musical building blocks of this piece. Mozart’s creating a piece out of small fragments of related compositional material so that the piece holds together. By stacking these building blocks - the musical themes - next to and on top of one another, Mozart is building a framework for the piece. He’s creating the piece’s architecture. The inspiring part of this process is the way that Mozart plays with these building blocks, plays with these themes. The piece becomes a kind of musical game when the themes are turned back-to-front or upside down, made smaller or extended longer. The piece is especially exciting when all of the themes come together at the same time. That is the moment of compositional genius, and that is what an audience member subconsciously waits for: the coming together at the end of the piece.

But let’s start by examining one of these themes. The Stately Theme from before is going to be passed around the string section. You’ll hear this theme of four notes five times in all. On the piano, it sounds like this:

[music excerpt]

So, the Stately Theme was played five times. But, you may have noticed that sometimes the theme began before the previous one had finished. And at other times, Mozart adds a few extra notes to the theme as decoration. It’s a lot to take in; so let’s listen again. Here’s the same music played by the orchestra. The Stately Theme will be passed around the strings: you’ll hear it played by the 2nd violins, then the 1st violins, then the violas, the cellos, and finally the double basses. Also, as the music progresses, you’ll hear the theme increasingly decorated by the surrounding instruments.

[music excerpt]

By the end, there’s a lot going on. When listening, it can be difficult to hear the four notes of the Stately Theme, even when they’re played five times.

So, what I’ll do is I’ll play it on the piano once again.

[music excerpt]

And now, here’s that same music played by the orchestra. Listen out for the four notes of the Stately Theme - you’ll hear them five times.

[music excerpt]

So I let the music play longer this time, and now we’ve heard yet another building block of this piece. Towards the end of the excerpt, maybe you heard this:

[music excerpt]

Let’s call this the Fanfare. So, so far we have a Stately Theme,

[music excerpt]

the Call-To-Attention,

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And the Fanfare: 

[music excerpt]

Each of these themes has been introduced on each occasion by the 1st violins. And this makes sense, they’re the most prominent section in the orchestra. The 1st violins are the section most often called upon to play melodies, and this section has the largest number of players in the orchestra.

Over the coming episodes I’ll begin to explore the different instruments in the orchestra. In the next episode I’ll discuss the timpani, but today my focus is the violin.

Also known as a fiddle, the violin is one of our most versatile instruments. It’s used as a solo instrument, in classical chamber music, and in orchestras; but it’s also featured in many different folk traditions throughout the world. String instruments have existed for millenia, but it was during the 16th century in Northern Italy that the characteristic shape - and therefore, the sound - of the violin came into existence. Minor modifications over the following two centuries led to an apparent perfection in design being achieved. One of the most brilliant violin makers working at that time was Antonio Stradivari. His instruments - and those of his colleagues - serve as the models upon which future violins have been made. Original instruments surviving from that era - and especially the Stradivarius violins - are priced at several million dollars each, and these are usually loaned to the greatest violinists of each generation. 

High quality violins are mainly made from maple, with the hard-wearing parts made from ebony. And the numerous separate pieces of wood that make up a violin are held together by a glue made from animal hyde. This glue is useful because it can be easily removed or broken apart because, like any instrument, dismantling for repairs is needed from time to time. This is not to say that a violin isn’t strong in construction. Of course, it must be able to cope with the high tension of the strings which traverse the length of the instrument. The four strings can be powerfully or gently plucked, and also need to sustain light or heavy movements of the bow on the strings.

When the bow moves across a string, it causes it to vibrate. This vibration is heard as sound and is amplified by the body of the instrument. In order to change the qualities of the sound that is produced, the player subtly varies the speed and the weight of the bow. Also, the sound can be coloured by the non-bow hand. The fingers of this hand - the left hand - can do small wobbling movements on the string, slightly bending the pitch upwards and downwards. That movement - called vibrato - causes pitches to quiver, or flutter, or tremble, or even shake, depending on the speed and width with which the player wobbles their finger on the string. All of these components contribute to creating the range of expressive sounds available from a violin.

And it’s the sound of the violin that’s most closely associated with the sound of the orchestra. Its seductive qualities make it ideal for slow, heart-wrenching moments; but also its incredible agility can allow violins to be the centrepiece of orchestral virtuosity. Given that the violinists in an orchestra are divided into two sections - first violins and second violins - a composer can use a group of violins for the melody and a group as accompanying instruments, at the same time. The violin is the ultimate orchestral instrument.

And of course, at the moment Mozart decides to introduce the audience to another building block in this piece, well he once again opts for the violins. Have a listen to the violins now, and notice that they’re often decorated by notes from the woodwind instruments:

[music excerpt]

The theme featured in this section begins with three notes. I call it the Bell Theme. It sounds like this:

[music excerpt]

Mozart immediately follows the Bell Theme with the Fanfare that we heard previously:

[music excerpt]

So here’s the Bell Theme, followed by the Fanfare. I’ll play the whole thing twice.

[music excerpt]

Now let’s hear it played by the orchestra. You’ll hear the Bell Theme played by the first violins, followed immediately by the Fanfare, played by the flute.

[music excerpt]

So it’s not that easy to pick out these two themes amongst the busyness of the music. As you can hear, there’s usually multiple things happening at once. In fact, in that very excerpt a third theme is being played at the same time. I call it the Jumping Theme, and it goes like this:

[music excerpt]

Let’s hear it in context. You’ll hear it played by the flute and the bassoon. 

[music excerpt]

We’ll listen again. The Jumping Theme is played by the flute, followed by the bassoon, then the flute, then the bassoon, and so on. And this takes place above the constant flurry of notes played by the violins. 

[music excerpt]

So I’m going to play the whole section now. You’ll hear the Bell Theme, answered by the Farfare:

[music excerpt]

And during the Fanfare, you’ll hear the Jumping Theme:

[music excerpt]

And later, when the music is suddenly louder, you’ll hear the Bell Theme played by the full orchestra. It gets broken apart and thrown between the different instruments. Here we go:

[music excerpt]

No doubt it’s impossible to take in all the information that’s in this piece. And I appreciate that new listeners are probably having to take some of what I’m saying at my word. But don’t forget, this is one of our greatest musical geniuses. Mozart is flexing his intellectual muscle. He’s creating games for the listener, for the musicians, and also for himself. Of course, he wanted the process of composing to be stimulating for him too! So, most of all, don’t be intimidated by this music. Be inspired by a piece that remains out of the grasp of all of us, all of the time. It’s part of what makes this music endlessly enjoyable.

Let’s continue on. Initially you’re going to hear the Fanfare being passed around by the orchestra. Then, about halfway through this excerpt, the music comes naturally to rest. At that point Mozart says, let’s go back to the beginning - and so, we hear the opening music once again. Performing the music for a second time gives the audience an opportunity to take in more of the details, to play another round of the game.

[music excerpt]

It’s difficult to overstate Mozart’s brilliance. His virtuosity as a composer is one of the reasons his music is so admired. And this is yet another example of what it is that makes a performance thrilling. In previous episodes I’ve discussed the virtuosity and the conviction of an orchestra, and in a later episode I’ll feature the virtuosity of soloists. But, today I’m highlighting the way in which an audience can be blown away simply by observing the composer’s intellectual virtuosity.

So far, I hope I’ve managed to demonstrate some of the ways in which Mozart builds his piece out of a limited number of musical fragments. These fragments, which I called themes, are the building blocks of the piece. Mozart plays with them in every conceivable way, before bringing them all together at the end in a celebration of compositional prowess. Using a limited amount of material to build the composition is efficient: the piece has had all digressions and embellishments etched away. We’re listening to composition at its best. And this virtuosity - the virtuosity of the composer - can be perceived by the listener, and this can be thrilling.

So here we go. We’re about to hear one of the most famous finales in classical music. But first of all, a reminder! Here are the four notes of the Stately Theme:

[music excerpt]

Now listen to the Stately Theme played by the orchestra. On this occasion, it’s played by the horns, and then it’s repeated three further times by different instruments.

[music excerpt]

Let’s listen to this excerpt again. But, at the same time as listening out for the Stately Theme, try to hear two other themes. The Bell Theme:

[music excerpt]

And the Jumping Theme:

[music excerpt]

So, this is the finale: the moment where all the themes come together. The first note you’re going to hear will be the Bell Theme played by the violas, and then straight away the Stately Theme comes in on the horns. A few seconds later the cellos play the Jumping Theme. Good luck!

[music excerpt]

By the time we arrived half-way through that excerpt the entire orchestra was playing! And amongst all the aural complexity, maybe you even noticed that the Fanfare was being played. This one:

[music excerpt]

And didn’t you just love it when the whole orchestra suddenly came together! They played the Call-to-Attention that we heard at the beginning of the piece. After the highly-organised chaos of the previous music, the orchestra played as one.

We’re going to listen again. This time, focus on the moment where the whole orchestra comes together to play this, the Call-to-Attention:

[music excerpt]

At this moment a huge amount of energy is released, and this launches the orchestra to the end of the piece. Enjoy!

[music excerpt]

It’s magnificent isn’t it. At the beginning Mozart released energy that sizzled in our ears. As the piece went on, it started bubbling, more and more, always building, never letting the audience out of its grip. And at the finale, we feel the music rushing to the end. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the piece is gone. We played for as long as Mozart allowed us. And then, he winked to the audience and yelled ‘the game is up’ and he vanished! These are the games of music’s greatest musician: Mozart.

Thank you for being with me for another episode of A Thousand Pictures. If you have questions or would like to make a suggestion of a piece or topic for a future episode, please get in touch via social media or email feedback@athousandpictures.com. Further information, a link to the recording featured in today’s podcast, and suggestions about what to listen to next can be found at athousandpictures.com. Or subscribe to our email list and you’ll receive this information directly to your inbox.

Today we’ve been listening to the fourth movement from ‘Symphony no. 41’ composed by Mozart. I recommend the recording by the Manchester Camerata conducted by Douglas Boyd.

And finally, please subscribe, please rate and review, and please share this podcast with others. Your support is valuable and it’s appreciated: together we can create a community which celebrates classical music! Now go and listen to this wonderful piece, and get out there and hear a performance by your local orchestra!

[music excerpt]