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On their way home to Vienna, Wolfgang and Constanze stopped off in the city of Linz in southern Austria to visit Johann Joseph Anton, the Count Thun, who had been a friend of Mozart's family since the composer was a boy. The count, an enthusiastic supporter of his young friend, immediately announced a concert of Mozart's music. Theoretically, this would have been for Mozart delightful news, for concerts are always desirable when one is a composer. However, the situation was awkward. Mozart had amongst his luggage no music they could play, and the concert was only four days away. What's a composer to do? The answer lies in a quick note that Mozart sent to his father: "As I have not a single symphony with me, I am writing a new one at breakneck speed." Against all odds, the work was finished in time for its premiere November 4, 1783, and was duly named for the city in which it had been composed.
Was this piece truly written in only four frantic days? That such a magnificent symphony could be completed so swiftly seems astonishing. Merely scribbling down the notes of this expansive work could require that much time, so surely the process of imagining them would take far longer. Yet salvation may have come from one rare feature of Mozart's prodigious talent. This master composer was accustomed to creating his music essentially in his head, mentally assembling an entire work down to the details of its orchestration long before physically writing a single note. Thus, though he had no symphonies with him on paper, he may well have had one in his head, a complete symphony that was only awaiting transcription from his memory, with minor instrumental adjustments to suit the particular members of Count Thun's orchestra, which apparently had no flutes, but did include trumpets. Did Mozart write the symphony entirely from scratch in only four days, or did he merely drew it forth from his formidable memory? Either way, the fact remains that this masterpiece does honor to his skills, for what other person ever born could possibly carry every note of an entire symphony in his mind?
The story of the Linz Symphony does not end with its premiere. Early in 1784, after a prosperous season of winter concerts, Mozart sent a copy of the score to his father, who was still employed with the court orchestra in Salzburg. The accompanying letter read in part, "You might arrange to have it copied sometime. You can then send it back to me or even give it away or have it performed anywhere you like." Clearly, the son was not concerned with earning money from the symphony, but only wished to assure that it would find an audience, and that goal he achieved. Leopold conducted the piece in concert September 17, 1784. Informing his son of the occasion, he strongly complimented the new work, pronouncing it to be "excellent." That same month, Wolfgang and Constanze welcomed their second child. Sadly, little Carl Thomas had no siblings to welcome him. His predecessor had died as an infant, during his parent's Salzburg sojourn.