Updates | Contact | Cairo Opera House | Links
| |
Home | Composers Index
| Musical Epochs
| Musical Forms Updates | Contact | Cairo Opera House | Links |
The present work, likely the earliest of Mozart's efforts in this form, is fairly bursting with the bottled-up exuberance of an eight-year-old confined by close quarters and exhortations to not disturb the rest of his convalescent father. The structure of the work closely resembles that of a three-part overture (indeed, a number of his early symphonies and opera overtures functioned interchangeably), a central slow movement flanked by two of a more extroverted nature. The sprightly, kinetic impulse of the first movement gives way to a Baroque stateliness in the second, marked by a near-constant pulsation of triplets. Of particular note is what seems to be the earliest, albeit unobtrusive, appearance (in the first horn) of the "Jupiter" motive, the four-note figure which Mozart puts to prominent use in the final movement of his Symphony No. 41. The almost humorous mien of the final movement recalls the tradition of opera buffa, in which Mozart himself was later to play a pivotal role.