Symphony No. 41 in C Major

No performances of Mozart’s last three symphonies (Nos. 39-41) are known to have taken place during his lifetime. He may have had in mind a concert series in late 1788 during which all three works would be heard—and compared. Certainly, he made sure that, although they complemented one other, each had its own distinct personality. Symphony No. 41 in C major was completed just 16 days after No. 40 and inhabits an altogether sunnier world, radiating an Olympian technical mastery on a truly heroic scale—perhaps that’s why the London orchestral director Salomon nicknamed it the Jupiter. The first movement (“Allegro vivace”) bubbles over with the melodic motifs and gestures of comic opera, including a direct quote from Mozart’s humorous aria “Un bacio di mano”. The soft, poised melody on muted strings at the start of the “Andante cantabile” is like nothing else in Mozart. He reaches new heights a little later with a sequential violin and woodwind theme, then a series of ecstatic harmonies supporting a more florid line—repeated and enriched. The “Menuetto” is truly symphonic—its first four notes binding together the whole movement. The remarkable “Molto allegro” draws on an Austrian tradition of fugal symphonic finales, which began to emerge during the 1780s. The simple four-note theme is combined with others, not just with wit and elegance, but with supreme contrapuntal skill.