Mozart - Symphony No. 36 in C major, "Linz", K. 425 (1783)

Mozart

Symphony No. 36 in C major, "Linz", K. 425 (1783)

The Symphony No. 36 in C major, KV 425, (known as the Linz Symphony) was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during a stopover in the Austrian town of Linz on his and his wife's way back home to Vienna from Salzburg in late 1783. The entire symphony was written in four days to accommodate the local count's announcement, upon hearing of the Mozarts' arrival in Linz, of a concert. The première in Linz took place on 4 November, 1783. The composition was also premièred in Vienna on 1 April, 1784. The autograph score of the "Linz Symphony" was not preserved. The symphony is scored for 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings.

There are four movements:
1. Adagio, 3/4 — Allegro spiritoso, 4/4
2. Poco adagio, 6/8
3. Menuetto, 3/4
4. Finale (Presto), 2/4.

Every movement except the minuet is in sonata form. The slow movement has a siciliano character and meter which was rare in Mozart's earlier symphonies (only used in one of the slow movements of the "Paris") but would appear frequently in later works such as #38 and #40. The next symphony by Mozart is Symphony No. 38. The work known as "Symphony No. 37" is mostly by Michael Haydn.