Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
1 flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets*, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and strings
(*Clarinets were added later.)
Molto allegro
Andante
Menuetto: Allegretto
Allegro assai
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
This well loved symphony dates from the summer of 1788. It was a difficult time for Mozart. His public career and personal finances were faltering, and he had only recently suffered the death of a baby daughter. Nonetheless, it was an unusually productive year for his composing, with thirty new entries into his catalogue of works. Don Giovanni, composed the previous year, received its second production in Vienna in May of 1788, and in June he began work on his famous trilogy of his three last symphonies, of which this is the second, completing them all in less than two months.
This G minor symphony was already popular and highly esteemed in the early nineteenth century, due not only to its brilliant writing but also, no doubt, to its "romantic" qualities, among them its unusually quiet and agitated opening and the dark color of its minor key. (It was one of only two Mozart symphonies in minor.)
The original orchestration of this symphony was for one flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns and strings, but Mozart later revised it to add clarinets.
Boston Baroque Performances
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
December 31, 2021 & January 1, 2022
Calderwood Studio at GBH, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
October 20 & 22, 2017
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
December 31, 2009 & January 1, 2010
Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor