Symphony No. 18 (Mozart)

Symphony No. 18
by W. A. Mozart
Mozart in 1773, portrait by Martin Knoller
KeyF major
CatalogueK. 130
ComposedMay 1772
Durationc. 21 minutes
Movements4
ScoringOrchestra

Symphony No. 18 in F major, K. 130, was the third and last of three symphonies composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in May 1772, when he was sixteen years old.[1]

Structure

The symphony is scored for two flutes, four horns, and strings. The horns are tuned differently: two pairs each are in F and B♭ for the second movement, while they are in C and F for the remainder of the symphony. There are no oboes in this symphony; Mozart used flutes instead for the first time. He also used a second pair of horns throughout this work, which is a rarity in his oeuvre.[1]

In this symphony and the others he wrote around this time, he writes for combinations of wind instruments that would not have been available to him – the official list of instrumentalists in the court orchestra included only two/three horns and no flutes. In the case of this symphony, Mozart may have been relying on the common practice where wind players could play several instruments, for example the oboists of the orchestra having flutes as a second instrument.[2]

There are four movements:

  1. Allegro, 4
    4
  2. Andantino grazioso, 3
    8
    in B♭ major
  3. Menuetto – Trio, 3
    4
    (C major)
  4. Molto allegro, 4
    4

\new Staff <<
  \new Voice \relative c'' {
    \tempo "Allegro"
    \key f \major
    \voiceOne
    f16(\p c8.) \repeat unfold 6 { c8-. } |
    \appoggiatura d16 c( bes8.) \repeat unfold 6 { bes8-. } |
    \appoggiatura c16 bes( a8.) \repeat unfold 6 { a8-. } |
  }
  \new Voice \relative c' {
    \voiceTwo
    r4 f a f |
    r4 g8. f16 e4 c |
    r4 f8. e16 d4 c |
  }
>>

References

  1. 1 2 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (2005). Die Sinfonien III. Translated by J. Branford Robinson. Kassel: Bärenreiter. p. X. ISMN M-006-20466-3
  2. ↑ Keefe, Simon P (2008). "The Symphonies". In Eisen, Cliff (ed.). The Cambridge Mozart encyclopedia (Repr ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 499. ISBN 978-0-521-85659-1.