A Frolic through Mozart's Symphony No 40
I. Molto Allegro
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
I'm Mozart, and I'm delighted to walk you through the first movement of my Symphony No 40, the Molto Allegro. You'll hear how a quiet, restless accompaniment from the violas carries a sighing tune in the violins, and how that small sigh returns in the major-key second theme, so a single worry colors the whole movement. Here on this site my fellow composers and I also teach you to recognize our music the moment it plays, so put your skills to the test and see what you pick up.
---
Follow The Sighing Violins
Start by listening to the violins, because they carry the main tune, a sighing little figure you'll recognize after one hearing. Underneath them the violas and the other low strings keep a restless motion going, so the ground never quite stands still. The flute, oboes, bassoons and horns don't lead, but they color the music and answer back, a bit like friends chiming in from the sofa. I later made a second version with two clarinets added, so if your recording sounds a touch warmer in the winds, that may be the reason.A Title That Is Really An Instruction
I should admit that I never gave this movement a title in the usual sense, because 'Molto allegro' is a tempo marking, my instruction to the players. It means very fast, and I wanted the music to push forward without ever stopping to catch its breath. What makes it interesting is that the speed lives in G minor, so the hurry feels anxious instead of cheerful. That mix of pace and worry is the point, and the 2/2 time keeps everything moving in long, driving strides.Three Acts, One Movement
For this movement I chose sonata form, which works like a story told in three parts. First you meet the themes, then you watch them get pulled apart and tossed around, and finally you hear them come home again. The proper names for those parts are the exposition, the development and the recapitulation. I'll walk you through four sections, giving each of the two themes its own turn before we reach the stormy middle and the return.Section 1: A Worry With A Tune
The movement opens in G minor, and the violins sing their sighing figure over the murmuring accompaniment. The mood is quiet but agitated, and you can feel the tempo pressing on you from the very first moment. I never let this theme settle into comfort, so it keeps leaning forward as if it's late for something. Remember this tune well, because everything that follows grows out of it.Section 2: Sunshine, Mostly
Then the music moves into B flat major, and for a moment the clouds seem to thin out. Don't be fooled, though, because this second theme has a falling semitone in it that sighs even more than the first tune did. It's a major key with tears in its voice, and I think that is why Robert Schumann could hear a Grecian lightness and grace in the symphony. The change of key is your first real mood shift, and it makes the worry around it feel deeper.Section 3: The Motif Gets Chewed Over
In the development I take the opening sigh and break it into small pieces. Those fragments chase each other around in violent counterpoint, with the keys shifting under your feet. The mood turns obsessive, like a thought you can't stop turning over in the middle of the night. This is the most turbulent stretch of the movement, and I wrote it so that you'd feel the tension before you understood it.Section 4: Coming Home, Not Cheering
Finally the first theme returns, and you know you're back where you began. The big change is that the second theme now comes back in the home key of G minor, where it sounds dark and mournful. It's the same melody that felt hopeful in B flat major, and hearing it in the shadows is the quiet heartbreak of the movement. That's the story told through key and mood: the tune is the same, but it has lived through something.Your Turn, Press Play
Now it's your turn to hear it for yourself, so find a comfortable spot and press play. Keep the sighing violins in your ear, wait for the brighter second theme, and notice how it changes when it comes home. You don't need to know any music theory, because you only need to follow the worry as it moves along. I hope the ride feels as gripping to you as it did to me when I wrote it.---
I hope you enjoyed this listen guide to the Molto allegro of my Symphony No 40. Did it give you a few new things to listen for the next time the violins begin to sigh? I've always found that a piece like this opens up a little more each time I come back to it. Now that you know where the restless violas sit and how the second theme answers the first, you may hear the movement as a single long conversation rather than a string of tunes. The first movement is only the beginning of the symphony, and there is a lot more to explore. The calm Andante in E flat major, the minuet with its uneasy rhythm, and the stormy finale that stays in G minor right up to the last chord all have stories of their own. There is also the question of how the music was received after I wrote it, and how later listeners such as Schumann and Brahms came to love it. If you'd like to keep going, please click on the links provided and carry on exploring Symphony No 40. Listen once more with fresh ears, and see what the sighing violins tell you this time.