“All I insist on, and nothing else, is that you should show the whole world that you are not afraid. Be silent, if you choose, but when it is necessary, speak — and speak in such a way that people will remember it.” — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

SYMPHONY: An elaborate orchestral composition typically broken into contrasting movements, at least one of which is in sonata form. 

FURTHER LISTENING:

Mozart: Don Giovanni
Symphony No. 41 in C major (Jupiter)
Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major
Symphony No. 25 in G Minor

Program Note

Brace yourself: The Illuminati are real, and Mozart was one of them.

OK, so they weren’t the nefarious cabal of world-controlling megalomaniacs that the conspiracy theories point to nowadays. Historically, the group was an elitist, rationalist faction of the Freemasons active from 1776 to 1785. They stood in opposition to the more occult-obsessed faction of this historic fraternal order, though both of these factions sought to sway political decisions by currying influence among societal elites with debatable levels of success. (Unless that’s only what they want people to think.)

Mozart began his apprenticeship at a Freemason lodge in 1784 at age 28 and aligned himself with the rationalists, including masonic themes in famous works like The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. The operas include numerous references to the rhythm of the society’s super-secret triple-knock: short—long—long. (The Masons were a bit obsessed with ritual and secrecy, natural parents of conspiracy theories and urban myths.) More generally, the Freemasons’ musical ideals tended toward straightforward melody and accompaniment rather than dense polyphony or counterpoint, a defining characteristic of Mozart’s famous Symphony No. 40. 

The No. 40 is famously relentless. The first theme in the opening movement is argumentative and urgent, though it soon yields to a softer, sighing second theme that echoes sweetly in the winds. Then it’s back into the storm and conflict.

A sensual second movement provides contrast, much like the principal two themes of the first movement. The Menuetto returns to a mood of stately severity, exaggerated to the point of pomposity. The finale is explosive, combative even. An opening statement, a simple rising arpeggio in the strings, is ripped apart by the full orchestra repeatedly before the movement begins cycling through harmonic sequences at a breakneck pace. This movement is rhythmically more straightforward than the opening allegro, though it mirrors the traditional sonata form by positing a kinder second theme.

Despite the quality of his late compositional period, Mozart struggled to support his family financially. Extant letters to fellow Freemason Michael Puchberg reveal his desperation: “Fate is so much against me… that even when I want to, I cannot make any money. So it all depends, my only friend, upon whether you will or can lend me another 500 gulden. Oh god! I can hardly bring myself to send this letter.” His fellow Freemasons were indeed able to help in this regard, to a point.

(c) Jeremy Reynolds