On the left is the first page of the score for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. On the right is the the first page of the score for Mozart's Jupiter Symphony.
If ever there could be a list of the greatest songs ever written by the
human hand, the top of the list would be dominated by the works of
Beethoven and Mozart. None of their works would even touch the lower
half of the list. Did you know that the maximum length of an audio CD
is not 74 minutes because of disc capacity? That length was chosen
because it is the length of time necessary for one performance of
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. If you consider historical reception of an
artist's work, no two pieces in history, past or present, have received
the accolades that two of the final works of Beethoven and Mozart have
received. More specifically, the finales of these works, both
symphonies, have garnered worldwide repute as the greatest musical
achievements of humankind. In Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the finale is
the well-known Ode to Joy. In Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, the finale is
simply known as the Molto Allegro.
The song that holds the top spot on my most played list in
iTunes is the finale to Mozart's Jupiter Symphony. It is that piece of
music that I would like to focus on here. Read the following excerpts
from just two of the literally hundreds of critics throughout history
(one critique was written more than 100 years ago and one recently) who have studied
and dissected Mozart's Jupiter Symphony.
from NPR's Elizabeth Blair on All Things Considered Jan. 2006:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's last symphony, the Jupiter Symphony (No. 41),
was written along with two other, full-length symphonies in the summer
of 1788 -- in just six weeks. Mozart had recently been idolized all
over Europe for operas such as Don Giovanni and for his spectacular performances of his own piano concertos.Still, Mozart was determined to do something revolutionary. That
comes in the final movement of the Jupiter Symphony with the composer's
use of counterpoint, or weaving together two or more different
melodies. Mozart uses five different melodies simultaneously in the
Jupiter, making it a challenge for any orchestra that takes it on.
Some
have said the Jupiter sums up what had happened in symphonic music up
to that point, and that it foreshadows the work of Beethoven. But more
than that, it's exuberant and introspective, charming and complicated
-- a lot like life itself.
Now, edited from a critique by Sir. George Grove Jan. 1906:
The
sobriquet of "Jupiter," whether bestowed on this noble work by the late
John Cramer or any other individual, well expresses the estimate of a
former generation of the position which in its calm, lofty, god-like
beauty it held in the then world of instrumental music. That it has
been dethroned from that position by the 'Eroica' and other symphonies
of Beethoven is as much a part of the regular order of nature as that
Jupiter himself should have been dethroned. Jupiter is still the head
of Olympus, the Parthenon is still the noblest building of the ancient
world, and the Jupiter Symphony is still the greatest orchestral work
of the world which preceded the French Revolution. It is for the Finale
that Mozart - as if aware that he was writing his last Symphony - has
reserved all the resources of his science, and all the power, which no
one seems to have possessed to the same degree with himself, of
concealing that science, and making it the vehicle for music as
pleasing as it is learned. Nowhere, perhaps - not even in his greatest
Quartets or in the immortal Overture to the Zauberflote - has he
achieved more. The Finale is in the most regular symphonic form and is
constructed on four perfectly distinct and individual themes...and as
if the four were not enough sufficiently to fetter him, he inverts the
second of his themes; and then these five are combined and treated with
the most extraordinary variety of close imitation, canon, and
accompaniment...Having thus brought his materials into the field,
Mozart proceeds to elaborate them, and the way in which he does this
has long been recognised as a marvel for its union of counterpoint and
fancy...[Techniques used in the finale] have few if any parallels
before this Symphony, and open up a startling vista of the bold
innovations of this great genius...the Coda with which this Finale
concludes, in which all the learning and contrivance of the former
portion are summarised and condensed, and, if possible, surpassed,
begins as a regular strict fugue in which the four subjects (with the
one inverted to make a fifth) are brought into different relations and
closer combinations than before, the effect being as it were to weld
the whole structure firmly together into one everlasting monument of
symmetry and beauty. For such as the force of genius of this wonderful
man and such his habitual mastery over the technicalities of the art,
that these elaborate contrivances never obtrude themselves to the
injury of the poetry and spirit of the composition, but all is
brilliant, graceful, and forcible.
In his lengthy critique, Sir Grove, like
Elizabeth Blair, speaks of two features of the Jupiter symphony that
"anticipate a principal characteristic in Beethoven's treatment of the
Symphony."
The impact this piece has had on my life is surpassed by
few other experiences. At the time in which I first heard the symphony, which was in September of 2005, I thought nothing of the finale. I was too enamored by the first movement with its power, energy, and excitement. It wasn't until I listened to it many more times that I began liking it. Then I began liking it intensely. Soon, I could not refrain from playing it every day. It was not until this past year that I began to study seriously the musical techniques that Mozart used and only then did I learn of the piece's reputation. Now, I simply can not imagine life without having
heard and appreciated this monumental work. Words, my words, fall
entirely short of the task of describing the intense, fierce beauty of
this finale to the Jupiter Symphony. I once said that I liked Stairway
to Heaven more than this finale. I might have misspoken. Actions speak
louder than words, right? I've played this piece 54 times on my
computer and probably another 30 on my iPod - more than any other song
or classical piece. I've played Stairway to Heaven 10 times on my
computer, and I can't recall one instant in which I listened to it on
my iPod. You might say that the length would make me hesitant to play
Stairway often. After all, Stairway is 8:00 minutes long. However, the
finale of the Jupiter Symphony is between 8 and 9 minutes long. Length is clearly
not the issue. This piece makes my mind race, my heart pound, and my
body quiver. It reaches into my soul like no other music ever has, perhaps ever will. It must be that Stairway to
Heaven does not come close to the brilliance of this work of art.
To hear portions of the piece with commentary on its intrinsic and historical influence, click on the following NPR link and hit "Listen" at the top of the page. I strongly recommend following the link. It isn't very long, and it's
very interesting.
Sources:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5173337
http://www.jstor.org (search for "sir grove mozart's jupiter" and it is the third search entry)
Supplementary Sources:
http://music.nebrwesleyan.edu/~slevande/paper1.htm
http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/loebmusic/isham/guides/mozart/