Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major "Jupiter" K. 551 (1788)

00:10 Allegro vivace
11:46 Andante cantabile
22:43 Menuetto: allegretto
28:05 Molto allegro

Score video. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) completed his Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, on 10 August 1788. The longest and last symphony that he composed, it is regarded by many critics as among the greatest symphonies in classical music. The work is nicknamed the Jupiter Symphony, the name showing that for people of the time, this was a really big work, in all senses.This name stems not from Mozart but rather was likely coined by the impresario Johann Peter Salomon.

The symphony is scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns in C, two trumpets in C, timpani in C and G, and strings. It is not known whether Symphony No. 41 was ever performed in the composer's lifetime. According to Otto Erich Deutsch, around this time Mozart was preparing to hold a series of "Concerts in the Casino" in a new casino in the Spiegelgasse owned by Philipp Otto. Mozart even sent a pair of tickets for this series to his friend Michael Puchberg. But it seems impossible to determine whether the concert series was held, or was cancelled for lack of interest.

A remarkable characteristic of this symphony is the five-voice fugato (representing the five major themes) at the end of the fourth movement. But there are fugal sections throughout the movement either by developing one specific theme or by combining two or more themes together, as seen in the interplay between the woodwinds. See detailed explanation at    • Magnificent Counterpoint in the Final...  

John Eliot Gardiner & English Baroque Soloists, 1992.