Mozart and His Last Three Symphonies. A Myth Laid to Rest?

Author(s): Andrew Steptoe

Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 132, No. 1785 (Nov., 1991), pp. 550-551
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
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Mozartand his lastthree

symphonies- a mythlaid to

rest?

AndrewSteptoe

Did Mozart ever hear his last three symphonies in

performance?One of the more interestingchanges in
perceptionsof Mozart and his activitiesto have taken
place over recent years concerns these works. The
symphonies were apparently composed over a short
period ofunparalleledcreativeenergyin the summerof
1788. The E b symphony (K543) was entered into
Mozart's Verzeichnassaller meinerWerkeon 26 June,
followed by the G minor (K550) on 25 Julyand the C
major (K551) on 10 August. Over the same period,
Mozart also completed two piano trios, a keyboard
sonata, and several otherminorworks.
The prevailingview formany decades has been that
Mozart never heard the last three symphonies.It has
been thought that they were writtenfor a series of
subscription concerts planned for the summer or
autumn of 1788 in Vienna. The only informationabout
these concerts comes froma letter Mozart wrote to
Michael Puchberg in which he requested a loan:'
'I dare to imploreyou to help me out witha hundred
guldenuntilnextweek,whenmyconcertsin theCasino
aretobegin.BythattimeI shallcertainly
havereceivedmy
subscription
moneyand shallthenbe able quiteeasilyto
pay youback136guldenwithmywarmestthanks.I take
theliberty
ofsendingyoutwotickets
I
which,as a brother,
beg youto acceptwithoutpayment...'
Unfortunately,the originalof this letteris lost. It is
generallyassigned to June1788,and the subscriptionis
takento referto the threestringquintets(K406,515 and
516) that Mozart tried unsuccessfullyto publish at 4
ducats a copy.2 The concerts are conventionally
believed not to have materialized.3
VolkmarBraunbehrenswas one ofthe firstseriously
to question this view in his book Mozartin Wien.4He
argued thatthe lettermay have been writtenlaterthan
June,perhaps in the earlyautumnwhen concertsmight
have been more feasible, and that the subscription
money relates to the concerts ratherthan the string
quintet publication. The factthat Mozart was able to
present Puchberg with tickets suggests that the
arrangementswere faradvanced. The theme was pursued by Robbins Landon in 1791:Mozart'sLastYear.5s
He
suggested not onlythatthelast threesymphonieswere
performedat these subscriptionconcerts,but thatK550
was played at the Tonkiinstler-Societdit
concerts conducted by Salieri on 16 and 17 April 1791 (a possibility
already recognizedby Deutsch).6Zaslow discusses the
matter extensively in his monumental book on the
symphonies,adding possible performancesofthe symphonies in Leipzig (1789) and Frankfurt(1790) during
Mozart's tours to these cities.7His conclusion reflects
the new climateofopinion concerningthese works:'We
may lay to restthe myththatthe last threesymphonies

remainedunperformedduringhis [Mozart's] lifetime'.8

A strikingaspect of this argumentis that it has not
resultedfromthe discoveryofnew facts,or the appearance of substantialdocumentaryevidence concerning
performancesof the symphonies. Rather, it appears
primarily to be a reaction against the romantic
perspective on Mozart, and 'art for art's sake'. The
romanticgloss was embodied by AlfredEinsteinwhen
he linked these symphonies with the notion that
Mozart was an irrepressiblegenius divorced fromhis
own time. He stated that the lack of performances
was:9
oftheirpositionin thehistory
ofmusic
'perhapssymbolic
no occasion,no
and of humanendeavour,representing
immediate
purpose,butan appealto eternity'.
Modern commentators continually emphasize the
practicalnature of Mozart's work.As Robbins Landon
puts it: 'The fact cannot be overstated:Mozart was a
supreme pragmatist and finished works exclusively
with a specificperformancein view'.10This has led to
the situationthat doubt about the performanceof the
last three symphonies is tantamountto acceptance of
the romanticperspective. Braunbehrens,forexample,
says:"1
- tofileaway
'Whydidhe writethelastthreesymphonies
in a drawerperhaps?Thatwouldbe a first,
sinceMozart
itiswellknown
neverwrotepurelyforhisownenjoyment;
thathe composedexclusivelyon commissionor fora
specificoccasion'.
while Zaslow argues that:12
threesuch
'Theveryidea thatMozartwouldhavewritten
in lengthand complexity,
works,
onlyto
:unprecedented
orbecausehewas inspired,
fliesinthefaceof
pleasehimself
his knownattitudesto musicand life,and the financial
straitsinwhichhe thenfoundhimself'.
However, this association between a romantic
perspective and lack of performancesis flawed. It is
perfectlyplausible to suggest that Mozart wrote the
symphonieswitha subscriptionseriesin mind,but that
the concertsnever took place. The factthatone or two
of the symphonies may have been played in Leipzig,
or three years later in Vienna is irrelevant,
Frankfurt,
since these laterperformanceswere opportunistic.The
'practical' Mozart would, not have composed symphonies against the chance thata concertvenue might
present itselfover the next two or three years. Moreover, even the most generous interpretationof the
presentlyavailable evidence makes it hard to conclude
that all threesymphonieswere performedin Mozart's
presence after1788.The strongestcase can be made for
K550 being played at the Tonkiinstler-Societtit
concerts

550

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in Vienna in 1791.It has been suggested thatK551 might

have been included in the concertthatMozart held in
Frankfurtin October 1790, since the programmewas
planned to startand finishwitha symphony.However,
the one contemporaryaccount of the event by Count
Ludwig von Benthein-Steinfurtstates that the first
symphonywas one which he had 'long possessed' (so
was not new), while the final symphony was not
It is
performedbecause the concerthad long overrun.13
conceivable that the finalsymphonywas heard a few
days later in Mainz, but documentary evidence is
It can also be argued that K551 was included
lacking.14
in the concertthat Mozart mounted in Leipzig in May
1789,but survivingreportsof this event are inconclusive.15Furthermore,this still leaves K543 without a
hearing. The assertion that Mozart heard all three
works thereforerests primarilyon the existence of the
1788 concertseries.
Since so many modern authoritieshave writtenin
favourofthese concerts,itmay be worthrehearsingthe
arguments against their occurrence. Firstly,the only
evidence about the concertscomes fromMozart's letter.
No notices in contemporaryperiodicals,old ticketsor
descriptionsby membersof the audience or orchestra
have yet been unearthed. The existence of the symphonies themselves is not significant,since Mozart
mighthave completed these works beforehis plan for
the concertswas abandoned. It mightbe argued thatif
the concertswere cancelled, it is unlikelythat Mozart
would have finishedall threesymphonies,knowinghis
tendencyto completeworksonlyat thelast minute.But
this brings us to one of the most telling arguments
againstthe concerts having taken place. Paper typing
studies by Alan Tyson indicate that the firsttwo
movements of the last piano concerto (K595) together
with the firstseven leaves ofthe finalewere writtenon
paper that Mozart only used between December 1787
and February 1789.16The concerto was not however
untilJanucompleted and enteredinto the Verzeichnfiss
ary 1791.It is highlyimprobablethatMozart planned a
seriesofconcertson the scale thatwould accommodate
symphonies without presenting new piano concerti.
He mighthave intended to use his last concerto K537
(completed in February 1788) since this had not yet
been played, but he would certainlyhave required
other works. It is also probable that he would have
composed symphonies beforeconcerti,since he could
relyon his own skillsat the keyboard to get througha
concerto even if the ink was still wet. The strong
implicationis that Mozart intended K595 forhis 1788
concert series, but that he put the work aside when
plans forthe series were called off.
How probable is it that an orchestralconcertseries
would have taken place in the summer or autumn of
1788? The limitedsurvivingrecordshave been collated
by Mary Sue Morrow.7 She has found evidence for
consistent concert activity every winter and spring
over this era in Vienna,but verylittleover the summer
or autumn, when the nobility tended to be at their
countryresidences.In 1787,forexample,informationis
extantconcerninga series ofearlymorningconcertsin
the Belvedere gardens over the summer,followed by
two benefitconcerts in September and October. But
thenno furtherevents are recordeduntilthe traditional
concertson 22 and 23
ChristmasTonkiinstler-Societ~it
December. In 1788, no concerts between April and
December are known of,except the performanceofAcis

etGalatheawithMozart's orchestrationin November.In

1789and 1790,no recordsofany concertsbetween April
and December have been discovered.
The successfulpromotionofsubscriptionconcertsin
the summer or autumn of 1788 seems particularly
unlikelyin view of the political situation at the time.
War against the Turks was declared early in the year.
Many of the nobility who might have patronised
concertswere at the front,as social and culturallifein
Vienna was curtailed.The Kdirntnerthor
Theater was
closed, and in JulyJosephII decided to withdrawpublic
subsidy fromthe Italian Opera. Vienna was strained
economically, with increases in the price of bread
A 7%
leading to riotsand thelootingofbakeriesin July.18
war tax was imposed at the end ofthe year,as the first
campaign ended in disorganizationand failure.
Other argumentsagainst thisconcertseries can also
be made. We know forexample thata yearlater(in July
1789),Mozart again triedto mount a concertseries,but
that he failed to secure any subscribers except for
Gottfriedvan Swieten. A charming description of
Mozart's family life written by the visiting Dane
It
JoachimDaniel Preislerdates fromlate August 178819.
is clear that Preislerspoke to Mozart about his plans
and musical activities,yet no mentionis made of any
concerts. It is also possible that the last three symphonies were not writtenfor Vienna at all, but for
publication or in preparation for a projected visit to
the evidence seems to
England.20At present therefore,
me to weigh against the 1788 subscriptionseries. New
factsmay emerge,with the discoveryof freshcontemporary records of concerts in Vienna or elsewhere,or
the location ofthe originalundated letterto Puchberg.
There may,forexample, have been concertsinvolving
Mozart early in 1791,during the visit of the King and
Queen of Naples to Vienna. It is however surely
prematureto dismiss as a fancifulmyththe notionthat
not all the last symphonieswere performedby Mozart.
Of course it is romanticto argue thatMozart wrote the
symphoniesout ofinnercompulsion with no venue in
mind.Butis it not equally sentimentalto believe,on the
basis of the slim evidence presentlyavailable, that he
must have heard these works?

References

'FromTheLetters
edited by E. Anderson.Thirdeditionrevised
ofMozartandhisFamily,
by S. Sadie and F. Smart(London, 1985).The letteris listedas number1076in Mozart:
edited
W.
A.
Bauer,O. E. Deutsch and J.H. Eibl (Kassel,
Briefe
undAufzeichnungen,
by
to the Trattnerhof,
since
1962-1975).By the 'Casino', Mozart was probablyreferring
Sue
Morrow
Mary
(personal communication)has discovered evidence thatvarious
concertsand otherevents were held in a section ofthismassive buildingknown as
the Casino.
2See Eibl's commentaryto letter1076,op cit,pp.367-369.
trans E. Blom,P.
3See, forexample, 0. E. Deutsch: Mozart:A Documentary
Biography,
Branscombe,and J.Noble (London, 1966),320.
4Firstpublished in German in 1986,and translatedinto English as Mozartin Vienna
1781-1791(London, 1990).
1791: Mozart'sLastYear(London, 1988),31-33.
6Deutsch,op cit,320.
7See N. Zaslow: Mozart'sSymphonies:
Context,
Practice,
(Oxford,
Performance
Reception
1989),421-431.
8Zaslow, op cit,431.
his Work(London, 1947),245.
9Mozart:his Life,his Character,
lORobbinsLandon, op cit,33.
"Braunbehrens,op cit,324.
12Zaslow,op cit,431.
13Deutsch,op cit,375-376.
14AdamGottron:MozartundMainz (Mainz, 1951) 48.
15Zaslow,op cit,423-427.
Scores(Cambridge,1987),156.
16AlanTyson: Mozart:StudiesoftheAutograph
Lifein Haydn'sVienna(Stuyvesant,1989).
17MarySue Morrow:Concert
II totheJacobinTrials(London, 1959),30.
18SeeE. Wangermann:FromJoseph
g9Deutsch,
op cit,323-325.
20See S. Sadie: Mozart Symphonies(London, 1986), 80. Mozart may have been
encouraged by the recent publication of Haydn's 'Paris' symphonies by the
Viennese publisherArtariato attempta comparable series himself.

551

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