Mozart: Symphonie Concertante in E-flat Major, K. 364

This week, we go back into the heart of the Classical era and take up Mozart for the first time. Mozart left his mark on all virtually all of the Classical genres. But I think his Symphonie Concertante, K. 364 (or Sinfonia Concertante, if you prefer Italian over French) is a pretty good place to start.

The name symphonie concertante is associated primarily with Paris, and the form became quite popular in the high Classical era beginning about 1770. These works were virtuosic but lighthearted with pleasing melodies. They were almost always in major keys. Another center for these works was in Mannheim. We have some very vivid terminology coming from the Mannheim School of this period, including melodic gestures with names like the “Mannheim sigh” and the “Mannheim rocket.”

A symphonie concertante typically features a pair of soloists with orchestral accompaniment. There could be more than two solo instruments, and the combinations were quite varied. That sounds somewhat like the Baroque concerto grosso, but the form is very much classical rather than Baroque. The soloists play not as a smaller group in dialogue with the orchestra, but more as soloists in dialogue with each other.

The style fit the economics and social needs of the time as composers were moving away from the traditional patronage of the church and court and developing audiences for public concerts. The form would virtually disappear after the Napoleonic Wars as the Romantic era celebrated the individual.

Mozart’s work is unusual in featuring a violin and viola combination with the viola tuned a half-step higher than normal. And the middle movement is written in a minor key. But it remains a good example of the symphonie concertante form and a highly regarded work by Mozart.