Mozart Symphonies

Well, I've been spending part of my down time digging through the symphonies of Mozart, pondering the question: How many symphonies did Mozart write? And, of course, most people go with the simple answer - 41. But even that simple answer is full of holes:

 -  the symphony called "No. 2" was NOT written by Wolfgang Amadeus, but (probably) by his father, Leopold Mozart
 - the symphony called "No. 3" was definitely written by Carl Friedrich Abel. In 1764 Mozart made a copy of Abel's Symphony in Eb, op. 7, no. 6 and substituted two clarinets for the 2 oboes in the original score
 - and lastly, the symphony called "No. 37" is actually Michael Haydn's (Franz Joseph Haydn's brother!) Symphony No. 25 in G major. Mozart liked the work so much that he copied the work out for himself, adding an Adagio maestoso introduction to it and adjusting the orchestration in places

So, then, Mozart wrote 38 symphonies, right? Well . . . no. In fact, he probably wrote 68 symphonies. Yes, 68! Thereabout, give or take a few here and there. Scholars are still arguing about this to the present day; writing dissertations, articles and whole books on the subject. What else do you do if you're a Mozart scholar?!

What it mainly comes down to is the sifting through of early manuscripts that aren't in Mozart's handwriting and trying to decide which ones are actually by Mozart and which ones are works that someone wanted you to THINK were by Mozart but were composed by someone else (oh, those marketers and advertisers, even back then). Sometimes it's very hard to tell. There are also a number of works by Mozart which are listed in a catalogue of manuscripts held by the famous German publisher Breitkopf & Härtel, but those manuscripts are now lost. And finally, there are also a number of works which Mozart originally composed for other purposes and then rearranged for use as symphonies.

So, how do we get to 68, you say?

In a nutshell, here we go:

K. Anh. 223/K. 19a, F major (1765)
Symphony, K. 32, D major (1766)
K.Anh. 221/K. 45a, G major (1766), sometimes called “Old Lambach”
Symphony, K. Anh. 222/19b, C major (1767?) - LOST
"No. 55", K. Anh. 214/45b, Bb major (1768)
Symphony, K. 100/62a, D major (1769) - from the Cassation, K. 100/62a
K3. Anh. 215/66c, D major - LOST
K3.  Anh. 217/66d, Bb major - LOST
K3. Anh. 218/66e, Bb major - LOST
K3. Anh. 223/Anh.C 11.07, D major - LOST (but also possibly not by Mozart)
K3. Anh. 223/Anh.C 11.08, F major - LOST (but also possibly not by Mozart)
"No. 43", K. 76/42a, F major (177?) - very well may NOT be by Mozart
"No. 44", K. 81/73l, D major (1770) - possibly by Leopold Mozart
"No. 47", K. 97/73m, D major (1770)
"No. 45", K. 95/73n, D major (1770)
Overture, K. 87, D major (1770) - the Overture to Mitridate, re di Ponto
"No. 54", Anh. 216/K. 74g, Bb major (1771) - possibly not by Mozart
"No. 42", K. 75, F major (1771)
"No. 48", K. 111+120, D major - the Overture to Ascanio, plus an added movement (K. 120)
"No. 46", K. 96/111b, C major (1771)
Overture, K. 118, D minor (1771) - the Overture to La Betulia liberata
Overture, K. 135, D major (1772) - the Overture to Lucio Silla
"No. 50", K. 161+141a, D major (1772) - the Overture to Il sogno di Scipione, plus an added mvt (141a)
Symphony, K. 185/167a, D major - from the Serenade, K. 185
Symphony, K. 203/189b, D major - from the Serenade, K. 203
No. 51, K.196+121 D major (1774-75) - the Overture to La finta giardiniera, plus an added mvt (K. 121)
No. 52, K. 208+102, C major (1775) - the Overture to Il re pastore, plus and added mvt (K. 102)
Symphony, K. 204, D major (1775) - from the Serenade, K. 204
Symphony, K. 250, D major (1776) - from the Serenade, K. 250
Symphony, K. 320, D major (1779) - from the Serenade, K. 320

The ones listed in red are definitely by Mozart. Some of the others are most likely by Mozart, but since the original manuscripts are missing or were destroyed in WW II, they get dumped into the "questionable/doubtful/spurious" pile. These are the ones that the scholars get to fight over! But us music lover can just enjoy them . . . or yawn and say BORING. Though, in my opinion, there are very few that fit into that last category. I believe you can find ALL of these on YouTube, so you can decide with your own ears whether you like them or not.

And with that I'll leave you with this wonderful performance of the Symphony in F major, K. 75 (from 1771 - composed by the 15 year old Mozart), performed by the Basil Chamber Orchestra. The slow (third) movement is particularly beautiful. Enjoy!