This guide to Mozart's last and most celebrated symphony explores the historical background and aesthetic contexts of the work as well as the music itself. The early chapters examine the expectations of the symphony in Mozart's Vienna, Mozart's career in 1788 (the year of the three last symphonies), and the changing reception of the "Jupiter" over the subsequent two hundred years. A separate chapter is devoted to each movement of the symphony with musical discussion illuminated by a broad array of topics.

Joseph Haydn's symphonies and string quartets are staples of the concert repertory, yet many aspects of this founding genius of the Viennese Classical style are only beginning to be explored. From local Kapellmeister to international icon, Haydn achieved success by developing a musical language aimed at both the connoisseurs and amateurs of the emerging musical public. In this volume, the first collection of essays in English devoted to this composer, a group of leading musicologists examines Haydn's works in relation to the aesthetic and cultural crosscurrents of his time.

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