Mozart Symphony No 29 Analysis

Evocative of much of the work he composed during his younger years Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 is a testament to his genius and mastery of classical musical forms. Written when he was just eighteen years old the composition is a concise and peculiar example of classical Sonata form. Instead of having an introduction before the exposition Mozart ops to present the primary theme of the piece’s Allegro movement at the start of the first downbeat. Exceptionally melodic the primary theme of the movement start with an authoritative leap of an octave in the violins. This is then followed by a sing-song like eight-note figure that features a pointed forward momentum. The rhythmic building blocks of the theme is constructed in two bar phrases which then sequences upward by step (Example 1). The accompaniment to the theme is sustained half notes played by the second violins, Violas, and Cellos The home key and the harmonic content of the exposition is also very clear in its presentation. The opening of the movement is in A major and remains primarily diatonic in its harmonic content, with only the occasional passing tone. The primary theme is played twice having a four-bar transition in between each quotation (Example 2). The harmonic movement of the opening thirty-one bars is primarily the tonicization of A major through a [V to I] progression. A half cadence is then used at bar thirty-two to make a modulation to the five chord: E Major. At bar thirty-three the