#haffner symphony

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Symphony No. 35 in D Major, K. 385 "Haffner": IV. Presto

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"The first allegro must be played with much fire, the last as prestissimo as possible."

-Letter to Leopold [Vienna, August 7, 1782]

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Sounding Together #14: W.A. Mozart, Symphony #35 in D major, “Haffner” (1782)

Mozart’s last six symphonies (of which this is the first) are pretty universally considered to be his best. The twenty-six-year-old composer had finally left his native Salzburg to work in the much more exciting Vienna, and his work was maturing accordingly. However, Mozart was still very obviously beholden to one person: his father, Leopold.

Mozart’s relationship with his father was very complicated. Leopold Mozart paraded his prodigious son around Europe for pretty much his whole childhood, and was hard on Mozart even as an adult. And even as Mozart was rebelling against his father’s authority in some ways--moving to Vienna and marrying Constanze Weber, a woman his father did not approve of--he still very much sought his father’s approval, as is evidenced by Leopold’s request that his son write a serenade for the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner, who Mozart had grown up with. In spite of the fact that Mozart was “up to his eyeballs in work,” he still worked through the night to compose the music for the occasion. There was some delay, as Mozart was not about to pen an inferior work, and there is some debate as to whether the “ennoblement” ever actually occurred or whether it was invented by Leopold to distract him from marrying his fiance, but the work was nonetheless completed and sent off to Leopold.

Several months later, when preparing music for a concert for the emperor, Mozart wrote to his father requesting to see the score from the serenade. Leopold took his time sending it, but when Mozart finally got it back, he remarked upon how good the score was, in spite of how rushed the job had been. He altered the work slightly to turn it into a symphony, his symphony no. 35, which is still referred to as the “Haffner” symphony.

This symphony is a strong indicator of Mozart’s mature style. The modern orchestra--with flutes, trumpets, and timpini in addition to the usual oboes, bassoon, horns, and strings--is nearly complete, and Mozart makes full use of the expand size and sound of the orchestra. The influence of Haydn is apparent in this symphony as well, as the first movement is built around one very short and simple idea, much like Haydn’s symphonies. The opening motif is a bold one, with a melodic leap of an octave (or double octave in some instruments), a harmonic descending pattern, and a rhythmic double dotted pattern, all of which are repeated frequently throughout the movement. Not much time passes without hearing at least one of these elements somewhere in the orchestra, and often, all three together. Mozart also makes much more use of his transition material, flirting around with the tonic D and dominant A major keys--with a little F-sharp minor thrown in for good measure--before finally settling on the dominant key in the contrasting second subject, which still contains the opening motif, but as more secondary material to the smoother patterns of the rest of the orchestra. As is common for Mozart, there is also a section which could easily constitute a third theme, which makes use of the opening material in yet another character with different melodic material layered on top of it.

The development begins with the opening material yet again, now in A major, before making a sudden trip into F-sharp major, and then taking a harmonic journey, letting the motif take us where it will . . . which eventually ends up being F-sharp minor. Then, Mozart literally travels up the circle of fifths, repeating the material until it inevitably leads back to the tonic key, and the recapitulation. The opening theme remains the same, and transition is significantly shorter here. Mozart uses a trick that he also used in his symphony no. 31 to stay in the tonic key. Where the harmony originally went from tonic to dominant, he instead turns the tonic major key into a dominant seven chord by introducing a C natural into the harmony, thus allowing the harmony to transition naturally a fourth higher than before . . . which keeps the key in D major for the second subject. After playing through the remaining themes, the movement ends with a strong statement of the D major chord.

In the lighter second and third movements, we hear the origins of party music that this symphony came from. And yet, these movements are becoming less and less like throwaway movements, and there is much to analyze here as well. The second movement offers another reduced sonata form, with a simple relaxing melody and themes defined by their rhythmic patterns--sixteenth notes for the first, thirty-second for the second. Where a development section would go, there is a brief section of chorale-like new material for the winds, with the strings providing syncopated accompaniment, before the recapitulation brings the original themes back again, both in the home key of G major.

The third movement is a back-and-forth between contrasting chords, contrasting dynamic levels, and contrasting styles. The harmony is, by and large, very simple, mostly tonic and dominant, with other chords sneaking in like little afterthoughts not wanting to disrupt the rest of the piece. The phrasing of the minuet goes from bombastic and march-like to quiet and refined every four measures or so. The trio is a song-like melody, but one that largely maintains the simplicity of the harmonic structure.

The last movement--also very often a throwaway movement--is written in sonata-rondo form, a combination of two widely used forms of the classical era, which simply takes standard sonata form and has the primary theme play again at the end of the exposition and recapitulation, thus providing the repeating theme of the rondo. The finale is a fury of notes, which Mozart indicated should be played “as fast as possible.” The movement begins quietly, with a unison theme, which then breaks into a loud thumping of chords and calls in the brass, driving us into the transition into the dominant A, where the very quiet, but still energetic second theme plays. Mozart has a bit of fun experimenting with the different ways in which this second theme eventually makes its way back the first, seeming to enjoy having his melody seem to get “lost” trying to find the theme again. The first theme plays again, leading into a development section, which is really the second theme, but now in B minor. But B minor doesn’t stay solid for long, as Mozart uses the brief development to play around with the harmonies before winding his way back, once again, to the first theme for the recapitulation. Then comes the second theme, as expected, in D major, and eventually, the first theme once again. But the first theme doesn’t get far this last time, as the piece seems to want to come to a triumphant close.

This piece was a wild success. The emperor loved it, and it’s easy enough to see why. The piece was obviously written for royalty, and contains a number of bold themes with plenty of pomp and bombast. But at the same time, it has a lighter side, and it’s clear that there’s a lot of fun to be had as well. And of course, Mozart is not one to write anything that is less than perfect, and his signature style and intellectualism are present here as well. Mozart was starting to free himself from the constraints of the classical era, his employers, and his father, and though he hasn’t shaken them off completely yet, Mozart’s mature style is definitely present in this symphony.