Mozart Symphony 38 D Major 'Prague Symphony' (2/4)

[xxxthehooplexxx]

This is an amazing symphony, but I still like the 40th the best, even moreso than this or Jupiter. The 1st movement to the 40th is probably the greatest piece of music ever written for so many reasons.

[sas147741]

Happy birthday Wolfgang!!!

[Halyein]

Good version.

[0musicluva0]

Mozart really love using the motif...

btw, is this Prague symphony composed before or after Clementi's allegro con brio sonata?

[IamDrMalick]

Nice, I like. 

[abeeltenista]

SUBLIME!!!!!

[kkitkatsuprem]

@abeeltenista Hoffman would not agree with this ;) Beautiful is the right word, sublime is for the Romantic era :P (you can use whatever word you want anyway)

[hisroyalhotness1]

holy infant of prague

[hisroyalhotness1]

inxs were there

[SirSebastianWang]

In terms of complexity, structural rigour and length, the Jupiter is superior to all other Mozart Symphonies.

However, just artistically speaking, and the actual pleasure of listening to this work, the Prague wins by several miles.

[squishimoo]

@Thomasbki Take a deep breath and relax. Sometimes peoples accounts get hacked. Im not hating on mozart, I play lots of his music on the piano.

[drewid80]

What an amazing symphony. I have no idea why this symphony isn't performed more on the global stage.

I notice some distinct similarities to the Magic Flute overture in this piece.....esp around 6:30 mark.

[Horza1972ex]

There is nothing better than this opening allegro in the entire history of music! It is perfect and *nothing* exceeds it.

[MrExageraldo]

Why doesn’t every orchestra play with the repeats? Why don’t take a double extra dose of pure divine bliss?

[345bomberman]

What I like about this piece is of the people who know of it, all agree that it is fantastic. The problem is that I have only heard one orchestra play it before, and that most people play Jupiter or 40. PLEASE play this one Chicago Symphony!

[345bomberman]

this is the very best of Mozart's work. Almost impossible to memorize, this devious piece of music has challenged the greatest musicians.

[polymath7]

God I love this symphoy and this recording. Both are utterly flawless upon even the most exacting inspection.

[rumpranger65]

@polymath7 No kidding. If you read music you'll want to investigate the sheet music itself. So amazing to see works of perfection like this "in the flesh".

[clementjb]

I think this is the best of Mozart's later symphonies. I agree that there is a hint of pre-Romanticism about it, but it's still firmly in the classical style as a whole. The border between Classical and Romantic is hazy anyway, because they share the same musical language, unlike the difference between, say, Classical and Baroque, or the break with tonality in someone like Débussy.

[rumpranger65]

@clementjb That's what I noticed. There's some definite liberty taken with this symphony despite its overall firm classical style. In some places though I think you notice the counterpoint, which reminds me of the old Baroque period.

[polymath7]

@rumpranger65 Ah, since you mention counterpoint, I'll repeat a remark I made several months ago, now buried several pages back:

To me Mozart's most contrapuntally fascinating work is the third movement of his 40th. I love the way in which the voices paradoxically seem to shoot off in two completely different directions and yet cohere perfectly, as though at once boundless but well contained.

It conveys very intriguing sense of antithesis

[jimtsirojohn]

the obo plays a pricnipal role in this symphony!

[WerdnaCourt]

3:15 - 3:40 Hints of the Overture Magic Flute there.

[MsOlivercat]

Happy 255th birthday, Mozart. You still rock my world.

[squishimoo]

your all nerds. mozarts dead fo shizzle so stop with the izzle

[Thomasbki]

@squishimoo You wanna go tell all the Michael Jackson fans to stop talking about him too? People who like good music aren't nerds.

[MrDsmalls]

I daresay that this piece makes me feel like Mozart is right in the room more so than most of his stuff. I feel like this piece in its sudden switches of mood and feeling so starkly contrasted and so beauitfully formed helps me to imagine what the man might have been like. One minute laughing and jovial, the next deadly serious and intense. I can only guess and imagine but this piece is like Wolfgang smiling right at us then sneaking up and scaring us then crying with us over life on the floor.

[VelocissimoConBrio]

After listening to this piece 1,000,000 times I am still always delighted by 1:21 and on. The flamboyancy the livelihood the excitement.

[polymath7]

@VelocissimoConBrio Perhaps my favorite part of this movement is the way in which the theme introduced at :38 is stated first with a joyous and playful buoyancy, and is then immediately rephrased with a redoubled urgency and passion, then soars off in another direction once again, all with a kind of fluid agility of which only Mozart is capable.

It's almost miraculous.

[Dodo251]

How I absolutely adore that high horn at 1:15.

[leporello56]

I love Mackerras's recordings of Mozart so much. And lovely pictures too, hope I get to go to Prague some time.

[timsentim]

I have come to regard this as one of Mozart's finest achievements. In a way, one could say that it foreshadows the Romantic era that is to come not far ahead in the future. There's something (probably the powerful backing) about the instrumentation that makes it sound like an early Romantic-era symphony.

[auburnpeninsulare]

this movement is a monumental epic all on its own and one of the best damn pieces of music ever written; utterly brilliant..

[lewars1912]

Mozart's greatest symphonic movement.  This and the closing moments of the Jupiter.

[Mozart2you]

(`*•.¸( `*•.¸ ¸.•*´ )¸.•*´ ) MASTERPIECE

A Divine touch ...very powerful, Mozart at his finest.

[rogybra]

:-)

[margariitaZ]

This remember me a lot of the overture of the magic Flute :)

[janlonek]

Pražská symfonie je nejposlouchanější v USA a na Aliašce:) Prague symphony is the most popular in USA and Aliaska:) Time has changed. When Mozart was composing in Prague sayed " My Praguers understand me" .....

[BPFanatico]

I would sit back and enjoy looking and thinking about my trip to the Czech Republic while listening to this!

[nodny]

38 D! its so freggin' freeing and unpredictable and playful. i was feeling like shit b4 i listened to this. now its time to eat some cookies and jump in some puddles!

[polymath7]

My listening to this just cured a severe headache.

I'm absolutely serious.

[zeitrigor]

That is exactly how I got into this music even though at first I couldnt entirely grasp it's complexity and beauty, it was only an intuition I believe theres something truly divine to it, and now I cant believe once upon a time I thought classical music was dull

[comic4relief]

that rocks; i've heard it's been known to help more serious conditions of the head

[ilkinond]

@polymath7 I believe you. Mozart has also cured me of hangovers too. I had an atrocious one some time back - gin, scotch, and Bordeaux were the culprits I think - the A major piano concerto soothed it away in a manner that made me forget I had ever even been in discomfort in the first place.

[AlamoCityCello]

Besser geht's nicht

[rgrybra]

Wow!

[NotHomelessAnymore]

This is just one of those symphonies you never want to end.

I daresay it's even better than his 'Jupiter' symphony... *runs and hides*

[chopinandliszt]

well, I personally like the Jupiter Symphony better because of it's ingenious counterpoint structure and passionate outcry.

[NotHomelessAnymore]

just entertaining the thought... I still think the first movement from no. 41 is one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard

[vanderbilt887]

Do you know the performance of the Jupiter by Frans Brüggen here on youtube? That has got to be *the best* rendition of this magnificent work I've ever heard, especially the 4th movement. Do a search on:

bruggen mozart jupiter

Highly recommended.

As an aside, I'm absolutely convinced that not listening to Mozart should be considered a crime.

[NotHomelessAnymore]

Just giving it a listen now, interesting, I like it, but I've never heard it played at such a slow tempo before, especially with a period orchestra. Trevor Pinnock's performance of Mozart's symphonies with the English concert is my personal favourite. I'm meaning to get a set of modern performances at some point... probably from Bohm. It's just a shame he only seemed to tackle the late symphonies.

[vanderbilt887]

Personally, I;ve heard one better peformance of this piece (yes, I was a bit dishonest there), but I can't recall the name of the conducter.

What I like about the Bruggen rendition is the excellent quality of the counterpoint of the 4th movement. All the seperate voices are quite clear, it's a real joy to my ears.

Perfection only lies withing the actual composition, Mozart is very, very hard to perform properly.

[polymath7]

@vanderbilt887

To me Mozart's most contrapuntally fascinating work is the third movement of his 40th. I love the way in which the voices paradoxically seem to shoot off in two completely different directions and yet cohere perfectly, as though at once boundless but well contained.

It conveys very intriguing sense of antithesis. 

[comic4relief]

this is not 'jupiter' though

[Organiste06]

@NotHomelessAnymore and it seems that it won't end...

[BeUrself0897]

@NotHomelessAnymore You may come out of hiding, no one can smite you on the grounds of a valid opinion:)

[elias12186]

@NotHomelessAnymore agreed =)

[BPFanatico]

I love all of his works!!!

[BasisGuy777]

he can write music when he was 5 i think

[anorexicwatermelon]

actually he wrote his first symphony at 3

[Silverlin212]

Actually no he wrote his first symphony at 8

[anorexicwatermelon]

he wrote his first something at 3. i dont remember details.

[Silverlin212]

No Mozart only started playing piano when he was 3, he didn't start writing anything till he was 4, almost 5.

[BaalWithin]

Actualy he started playing the piano at 3. He started writting arround 5 and wrote his first symphony at the age of 8.