Symphony No. 35 in D Major

Symphony No. 35 in D was written in 1782 for Mozart’s Salzburg friends, the Haffner family—hence the Symphony’s nickname. It was originally composed as a six-movement serenade using the full forces available in Salzburg—pairs of oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, drums and strings. When, the following year, Mozart needed a symphony for a concert of his own in Vienna, he adapted the serenade to Viennese taste by adding pairs of flutes and clarinets, and deleting the opening March and a Minuet. The “Haffner” Symphony begins with a serious, concentrated “Allegro con spirito”, dominated by the dramatic opening theme. The following “Andante”, with its simple, song-like form, and the festive “Minuet”, cast entirely in four-bar phrases, both inhabit the lighter world of the serenade. The final “Presto” bustles away like comic opera, and its main theme is indeed related to an aria for Osmin from Mozart’s recent opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail.