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Jupiter Symphony, 1st movement (Adagio-Allegro)
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Form scheme
1st movement |
It is based on the sonata form. Mozart used 3 themes: main theme in C major, secondary theme and theme of the closing group in G major. The development uses the 1st theme of the closing group, then the main theme.
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bars 1-23
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The main theme of the 1st movement - in C major - is presented in the 1st violins. It is a theme that contains two opposing moods within a narrow space. In the 1st bar C is heard in all instruments, unisono, firm and harsh, whereas in the 3rd bar a figure in the strings turns up, which sounds soft and questioning. In this way Mozart unites opposing elements within a brief space. (This talent is the reason why Goethe thought that Mozart should have set his Faust to music because he would have been able to combine opposing feelings into a musical unity within a short time).
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bars 37-55
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In the first bridge, the section between main and secondary theme, the main theme is contrasted by a subject in flute and 1st oboe. On the organ point G the 3rd and 4th bars of the main theme are sequenced.
Sequencing means that a motif is played on a higher pitch. Organ point means that a bass tone is sustained during several bars.
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bars 56-71
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The secondary theme is - according to the rules of the classical sonata form - on the 5th tone of C major, i.e. in G major. It is a gracious theme, charming in its enthusiasm and depth. Even while the theme is being intoned, the 1st bar with its chromatic 2nd step is imitated in viola, cello and double bass.
The exposition closes with a second theme in G major, the theme of the closing group. The serene mood predominates.
The exposition, i.e. the introduction of the themes closes in the dominant key, G major. The ending of the exposition is easily recognizable, especially in the classical era, by the repeat signs. The repetition of the exposition intends to help the listener remember the presented themes more accurately.
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bars 121-129
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Like so often in Mozart’s music, he starts the development with the immediately preceding theme, i.e. the theme of the closing group. Within two bars Mozart modulates from G major to E flat major so as to gain a new tone colour.
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bars 137-161
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Out of the closing group a bar in eighth notes is developed, imitated in violin and viola, cello and double bass. By splitting the motif the effect of this process if intensified.
In the second part of the development the main theme recurs in F major. Mozart - and this is an example of supreme musical art - makes the triplet motif of the 1st bar in the main theme independent, gives it an ascending motion (correponding to the original) as well as a descending one and thus wins a new motif from the substance of the 1st bar in the main theme.
The recapitulation, i.e. the repeating of the exposition themes, corresponds exactly to the rules of the sonata form. All themes are played in the root key C major.
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