SATURDAY, December 12, 2020 – 8:16 AM
These are the symphonies Mozart wrote between the age of 13 and 16
There are 13 of them, No. 9 through No. 21. I listened through all of them before, or tried to, but I was mostly bored. I think we can say at this point that what we hear is now mostly Mozart’s own work, but I have to say that if I wanted to hear music of this sort I’d listen to Haydn’s symphonies. I know I’m being awfully critical, but in my mind it was not until Mozart was around 17 that he started to become the Mozart that I associate with all of his amazing later works.
1769-72: Symphony No. 9 in C major, age 13-16
The reason for such confusion about the time of composition is that we simply don’t know for sure when he wrote this. For me the fact that he wrote this is just a matter of completing a careful observation of how and when Mozart developed. It’s impressive that he wrote this so young, but we don’t know whether he was 13 or 16, and that’s a huge amount of wiggle room. Is it great music? To me, if so, only because he was so young when he wrote it. Otherwise it is almost infinitely forgettable for me, personally. Thankfully it is quite short
1770: Symphony No. 10 in G major, age 14
Mozart wrote this the same year that Beethoven was born, and in fact probably a good bit earlier, since Beethoven was not born until December. This is even shorter than No. 9, and for me that is the best part of this because I can barely pay attention. I suppose the quality is amazing for a 14 year-old, but there is nothing at all here that begs me to listen again.
*1770: Symphony No. 11 in D major, age 14
This is more from the same period, when Mozart was around 14 years of age. It’s about the same as those above, short and frankly forgettable, and there is also a question of whether Mozart wrote it.
1771: Symphony No. 12 G major, 1771, age 15
Is this getting better? I’m not sure, but I believe so.
1771: Symphony No. 13 in F major, age 15
This seems more interesting to me, so for now I’ll just go with my gut and assume that maybe I’m right.
1771: Symphony No. 14 in A major, age 15
Just when does Mozart really sound like himself and not his teachers? I’m not sure, but I think it’s starting to happen in this symphony, and it’s the first one he wrote that takes around 20 minutes to complete.
1772: Symphony No. 15 in G major, age 16
Now Mozart is 16, and perhaps we expect him to begin composing in a way that immediately says, “This is Mozart”. But can you hear it? At this point I would not hear this and assume it’s not Michael Haydn or Joseph Haydn. This could be my own ignorance showing, because I am by no means extremely familiar with with this music. I’t interesting to note that some thing he was roughly the same age when he wrote Symphony No. 9, but to me that symphony sounds much more immature than what he was writing at age 16.
1772: Symphony No. 16 C major, age 16
I’m not at all impressed. For me this is very repetitive and predictable.
1772: Symphony No. 17 G in major, age 16
A quick impression makes me think there is some maturing going on now. I believe I hear more of the playful, adult Mozart, but I’m still not sure. Listening through these makes them all tend to blend together in my mind.
1772: Symphony No. 18 in F major, age 16
I believe I hear a greater mastery overall and more subtlety here. It would be very interesting to find out how accurate the number of these symphonies, because if the chronology is accurate, it would make listening to all these symphonies in order far more important. More and more I’m starting to hear certain signature figures that sound as though only Mozart could have written them. I may want to come back to this.
1772: Symphony No. 19 in Eb major, age 16
Same thing: There is a slow evolution, so if we start with the symphonies he wrote at around age 14 we will probably notice a radical change, but going in order makes it harder to hear it because the evolution then seems more gradual.
1772: Symphony No. 20 in D major, age 16
Is there something different here? I believe so, and I think this is the first time I’ve heard this much brass in his early symphonies.
I listened to 5 and 12. To be frank, these can be really dull, they play it really safe and are very light sounding but are still amazing when recognizing that this was made by someone really young. Just from these alone you can already see Mozart’s genius begin to show itself and see that he is going to go far. I would still put some of the above most traditional compositions.
I listened to Symphonies 9 and 21. Mozart deserves credit for writing these at such a young age. For me the music went along on too even a keel. There should have been something to rock the boat. He could have made it more interesting by adding some drama and excitement.
I listened to the first symphony. Some parts were interesting, but mostly it was too light on everything to be enjoyable the whole way through.