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George Templeton Strong, the New York lawyer and diarist,
who attended the Philharmonics first concert in 1842 and
became the Orchestras President in 1870
IN SHORT
Born: January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria
Died: December 5, 1791, in Vienna
Works composed and premiered: Symphony No. 31, composed in 1778, in Paris; premiered June 18, 1778, in Paris, by the Concert
Spirituel; revised version with new Andante unveiled in Paris on August 15. Flute Concerto
No. 2 composed 1778, in Mannheim, Germany;
premiere unknown. Exsultate, jubilate, composed in 1773, in Milan; premiered January 17,
1773, at Milans Theatine Church of San Antonio,
Venanzio Rauzzini, soloist. Symphony No. 39,
composed 1788, in Vienna; premiere unknown.
New York Philharmonic premieres and most
recent performances: Symphony No. 31, premiered January 2, 1936, Thomas Beecham, conductor; most recent performance, April 10, 2010,
Antonio Pappano, conductor. Flute Concerto No.
2, premiered March 19, 1924, Willem Mengelberg, conductor, John Amans, soloist; most recently played, April 11, 1965, Lorin Maazel,
conductor, John Wummer, soloist. First complete
performance of Exsultate, jubilate, September
15, 1946, F. Charles Adler, conductor, Dorothy
Ornest, soprano; most recently performed, September 26, 2006, Lorin Maazel, conductor, Heidi
Grant Murphy, soprano. Symphony No. 39, premiered, January 9, 1847, Henry C. Timm, conductor; most recently played, November 30, 2013,
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Estimated durations: Symphony No. 31, ca.
16 minutes; Flute Concerto No. 2, ca. 16 minutes; Exsultate, jubilate, ca. 15 minutes; Symphony No.39, ca. 28 minutes
DECEMBER 2016 | 27
decided next morning not to go to the concert at all; but in the evening, the weather
being fine, I at last made up my mind to go,
determined that if my symphony went as
badly as it did at the rehearsal, I would certainly make my way into the orchestra,
snatch the fiddle out of the hands of Lahoussaye, the first violin, and conduct myself!
Founded in 1725, the Concert Spirituel was
the preeminent Parisian purveyor of instrumental music until the nations cultural life
was interrupted by the Revolution of 1789. To
have his Symphony No. 31 (the first he had
written in three and a half years) programmed by such an entity was certainly a
coup, and one can easily sympathize with the
disappointment Mozart felt when he heard
DECEMBER 2016 | 31
E-flat-major Symphony at his Casino concerts. As it is, there is no evidence that it was
performed in his lifetime.
Like the Prague Symphony, his Symphony
No. 39 opens grandly, with a slow, darkly dramatic introduction in which the orchestral
texture and harmonic dissonance increase to
near the breaking point. This gives way to a
lyrical Allegro in which buoyancy rubs shoulders with measured grace. The movements
two main themes are set apart by both their
contrasting melodic character and their instrumentation; the first is conceived for the
strings, while the second employs the rich
texture of Mozarts beloved clarinets two
of them, playing in thirds. The dotted
rhythms of the introduction appear again in
the slow movement, a subtle Andante in Aflat (with a theme in F minor adding
poignant contrast). Mozart employed a modest instrumentation for this symphony, but
in this second movement he grows still more
economical by foreswearing the trumpets
and timpani. The resultant intimacy suggests the spirit of chamber music, especially
in light of the delicate writing for one-on-apart winds.
Often, the third movement is the least
memorable in a Classical symphony a
throwaway minuet that sometimes serves
only to cleanse the palate between the
more imposing courses of the slow movement and the finale. But in Mozarts Symphony No. 39, the third movement may be
the most memorable. It is unusually boisterous, a sort of peasants minuet, and the contrasting trio contains one of the composers
most endearing dance tunes, a lilting clarinet melody with delightful echo effects.
Still, it steals none of the finales thunder; a
single theme undergoes all manner of rhythmic and contrapuntal exploration, very
much la Haydn, without ever coming off
as recherch.
DECEMBER 2016 | 33
Recitativo
Fulget amicadies,
Jam fugereet nubila et procellae;
Exortus est justis
Inexspectataquies.
Undique obscura regnabat nox,
surgite tandem laeti,
Qui timuistis adhuc,
Et jucundi aurorae fortunatae
Frondes dextera plena
Et lilia date.
Aria
Tu virginum corona,
Tu nobis pacem dona,
Tu consolare affectus
Unde suspirat cor.
Aria
Alleluja.
Allelujah.