MOZART's Symphony 41 KV 551: FINAL DOUBLE FUGUE
- Jakob Viñas
- Feb 15
- 3 min read
Summary
Mozart’s Sinfonia No. 41 in C Major, K. 551, known as the “Jupiter” Sinfonia, is a masterpiece of the Classical era. The fourth movement, Molto Allegro, is a dazzling display of counterpoint, energy, and complexity. It opens with a triumphant and bold theme, immediately establishing a sense of grandeur.
Throughout the movement, Mozart weaves an intricate web of melodies, developing five main motifs that undergo remarkable transformations. What sets this movement apart is its breathtaking contrapuntal writing. Mozart employs fugato techniques, where different voices echo and overlap themes, creating a rich, layered texture.
The orchestration is vibrant, featuring bold brass and energetic strings that propel the music forward. The dynamic contrasts, from powerful tutti passages to delicate interludes, add to the movement’s drama and excitement.
The climax comes in the coda, where Mozart achieves an extraordinary feat: all five motifs are combined simultaneously in an exhilarating display of polyphony. This finale is both intellectually profound and emotionally stirring, leaving listeners in awe of Mozart’s compositional genius. Often considered the pinnacle of Classical symphonic writing, the fourth movement of Jupiter remains one of the greatest achievements in Western music.
This famous passage from his last symphony is remarkable for its complexity and for Mozart's incredible ability to use all the themes and combine them in this double fugue, where, in addition, the counter-subjects play the role of ‘counterpoint’.
The interpretative difficulty lies in achieving the necessary clarity for the listener to hear all this musical interplay.
The proposed solution imposes a hierarchy in terms of dynamics and a structuring of the nuances derived from the harmonic tensions.
The original score
Fortunately, we have the holograph score of Mozart's original manuscript.
The coda begins after the inversion of the 1st theme in stretto. This coda also contains the invertible 5-part counterpoint.
The fugue begins with the 4th theme in the violas and the 1st theme in the cellos, bassoons and horns.
The 1st theme is used in its two parts as a counter-subject each time, so the 1st part: C, D, F, E, are their own answer: G, A C, B, and repeated again.
With each new entrance of the fugue more themes of the movement appear, first the 3rd theme, then the 5th theme and at the end the 2nd theme.
As we can see all the parts enter with forte (f) which at the beginning of the fugue is not a problem. However, from the 4th entry (double basses) onwards it becomes difficult for the listener - and even for the musicians - to hear the other entries, due to the brilliant use of the other Emas of the movement as counterpoint.
This is due to the total dynamics of the ensemble, so that in addition, each new entry needs to sound louder than the previous one, easily reaching a fortissimo (ff), something that is not at any time indicated in the original score.
2. Interpretative proposal
My interpretative proposal for this Coda is as follows:
Hierarchising the themes: the entrances of the fugue take precedence over the other contrapuntal themes.
Modulate dynamically the 1st theme (counter-subject) in its two sections: 1st section, in forte (f) which is structured from the tonic chord (C) with support on the F (C, D, F, E) and 2nd section in mezzo forte (mf) which is structured from the dominant seventh chord (G, A, C, B).
Focus on the resolution point where it is located: at the end of the work (!)
3. Considerations regarding tempo
As always, the right tempo should allow all details and structures to be perceived.
My personal consideration is that a tempo between 115 - 125 for the white is sufficiently bright but also allows the listener to enjoy all the details.
4. Conclusions
Interpretation is especially relevant in complex works or passages, and necessary for the listener's hearing of the work.
A more structured listening improves the comprehensibility of the work and brings it closer to the audience.
You can listen to this performance of this famous movement from Symphony 41 here:
Live concert
International Symphonic Orchestra LVIV (Ucraine)
Jakob Viñas, conductor
Enjoy!
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