Mozart Sym 40 / 41

It was during the space of a few weeks that Mozart wrote down his last three symphonies, of which theSymphony in G minor, K. 550 , is the penultimate. The first of the group, theSymphony in E-flat , in which oboes are replaced by clarinets, was finished on 26th June, the second, in G minor, on 25th July and the third, the so-calledJupiter Symphony , two weeks later. TheG minor Symphony , originally written without clarinets, had these instruments added in a later revision. Unlike its companions, it makes no use of trumpets and drums. Presumably the three symphonies were intended to form pan of concerts to be given in Vienna in the coming season. In fact, Mozart was to give no more concerts of his own music, as he had done in earlier years in Vienna. His lastPiano Concerto, K. 595 , was performed as pan of a programme arranged by the clarinetist Joseph Bahr in March, 1791. TheG minor Symphony probably formed pan of a concert conducted by Salieri, the court Kapellmeister, with an orchestra of 180 players in April of the same year.