Mozart · Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart Symphony No. 35 in D major, "Haffner"
Written in a hurry amid marriage and opera
- Key
- D major
- Composed
- 1782
- Duration
- about 18 min
- Movements
- 4 movements
- Instrumentation
- Woodwinds 2·2·2·2 (flutes and clarinets added later) · Brass 2·2·0·0 · Timpani · Strings
The story behind this piece
In 1782, when Sigmund Haffner, son of the Haffner family of Salzburg, was about to be ennobled, a request for celebratory music came through Mozart's father, Leopold. Mozart was frantically busy then with his opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, preparations for his marriage to Constanze, and teaching, yet he wrote the piece a little at a time and sent it off.
It started out as a serenade with an extra march and minuet. The following year, after getting the score back to use at a Vienna concert, he removed the march and one minuet and added flutes and clarinets to the outer movements, creating the symphony we know today.
What to listen for
- Opening of the 1st movement: the orchestra states the big, leaping first theme in unison
- 4th movement, Presto: a finale that races on with no time to catch your breath
Listen · Score
Credits