Symphony No. 35, “Haffner”
Notes by Michael-Thomas Foumai
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)
Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385 “Haffner” (1782)
I. Allegro con spirito
II. Andante
III. Menuetto
IV. Presto
1782: FRAMING "FATHERS"
Mozart's Symphony No. 35 in D major "Haffner" was composed in 1782 at his father's request. This year was the changing of the guard on the island of Hawaiʻi. In April, the passing of the Aliʻi nui, King Kalaniʻōpuʻu-a-Kaiamamao (c.1729-1782), set into motion a game of thrones. Kalaniʻōpuʻu's son Kīwalaʻō (1760-1782) inherited his father's kingdom, but the late King's nephew Kamehameha the Great (c.1758-1819) had received support from chiefs of Kona. Rising tensions between supporters of Kīwalaʻō and Kamehameha culminated in the Battle of Mokuʻōhai, south of Kealakekua Bay (12 miles south of Kailua-Kona). Kīwalaʻō was killed in the melee giving Kamehameha the Great his first decisive victory in the conquest of the Hawaiian Islands.
DADDY DEAREST:
Mozart's relationship with his father, Leopold, was fraught with demanding expectations. Leopold's managerial approach to raising his son and the composer's wish to please his father frames the creation of the "Haffner" Symphony.
In 1782, Mozart received an urgent request from his father, begging him to compose a new symphony to honor Sigmund Haffner the younger; the Haffners were Salzburg's most prominent family (Sigmund senior was mayor). As childhood friends, the younger Haffner commissioned Mozart to compose a serenade on the occasion of his sister Marie Elisabeth Haffner's wedding in 1776. The eight-movement work is known today as the "Haffner" Serenade for Orchestra in D major K.250. With a packed schedule of commissions, an impending marriage, moving to new quarters, and while conducting and capitalizing on the popularity of his new opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, the 26-year-old's correspondence with his father shows his frustration:
July 20, 1782:
"How is such a thing possible?... all I can do is to devote the night to the task, for it cannot be managed otherwise, and to you, dear father, I sacrifice it. You may rely on having something from me by every post. I will write it as quickly as I can and as well as haste will permit."July 27, 1782:
"You will be disappointed to see only the first Allegro…On the 31st, I will send you the two minuets, the andante, and the last movement, and, if possible, a march. I wrote in D because you prefer that key. My dear kind father, I do implore you, by all you hold dear in the world, to give me your consent to my marrying my beloved Constanze…my heart is troubled, my head confused, in such a state how is it possible either to think or to work to any good purpose?"
Mozart continued to delay. With each letter, he continued his quest for his father's consent to marry Constanze. Finally, this changed on August 7, when he posted the march, writing, "I send you herewith a short march. I hope that all will arrive in due time, and be to your taste…You see in what haste I write. My dear wife and I kiss your hands a thousand times."
The new symphony, unfortunately, did not arrive in complete form for Haffner's ennoblement. When Mozart requested his father send back the symphony for a premiere in Vienna, Leopold answered with a three-month delay. The symphony finally returned, and on February 15, 1783, Mozart wrote, "My new Haffner symphony surprised me exceedingly on seeing it again for I had forgotten all about it!"
For the Vienna premiere on March 23, 1783, Mozart beefed up the orchestration with flutes and clarinets and cut out two minuets and the march, eliminating the serenade features for a clear four-movement symphony. The score runs for about 21 minutes and calls for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.
I. ALLEGRO CON SPIRITO
D-major triumphant opens with a primary theme that stretches from earth to heaven in its octave leaps. Dotted rhythms set the stage for regal pronouncements; music to enter and be worshipped. This music is much too good for aristocratic ennoblement; it is coronation music fit for the Holy Father. Mozart's canonical presentation of the theme ignites a jubilant celebration of running scales, a composer gallivanting with mischief through noble and royal spectators. Even in the stern D-minor development, Mozart mimes the seriousness of the whole affair and offers an effigy of a disapproving father. In his letter to Leopold on August 7, 1782, Mozart instructed the opening allegro to be "played with much fire."
II. ANDANTE
High-class reigns supreme in the effervescent G-major Andante. Cast into a petite sonata (the middle development removed), this music is bespoke for the aristocratic upper 1%. The opening violin theme is accompanied by fragrant puffs of wind chords and a tippy-toe accompaniment in the second violins. The second D-major theme offers a curiosity of choices, an inspection of a buffet rich with sweet musical desserts. If Mozart partook in people-watching, the noble houses are caricaturized with balletic finesse.
III. MENUETTO
Aristocratic nightlife is served with a dance. Mozart's return to the key of his father's pleasing, D-major, is stiff and imperial. The minuet unfolds with contrasts of forte and piano dynamics, no buffoonery here yet; this is Mozart in his behaved self. The A-major trio compliments the step-heavy minuet with a lyrical rotation of dancing partners. Finally, of course, Mozart throws in a few eyebrow-raising moments, accented sforzandopiano's on the D-sharp's of the second violin accompaniment; a risqué peekaboo.
IV. PRESTO
In his letter to his father on August 7, 1782, Mozart instructed the finale to be performed "as prestissimo as possible." Four years later, in 1786, Mozart composed the opera The Marriage of Figaro, and there are seeds in this finale that forecast the same energy and orchestration of the opera overture. The strings begin with a kinetically infused eight bars. This energy is unleased with power chords, syncopated punctuations, and a cascade of animated string figurations.
Mozart's Vienna years represented his most fruitful and active period, but with rising personal and financial troubles, this deadly combination silenced the composer in 1791. Nevertheless, the "Haffner" Symphony calls forth a composer's ferociously eloquent and mischievous energy at the top of his game; it penetrates the symphony from the first D octaves of the Allegro to the final eleven D-major chords of the Presto.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, on January 27, 1756, and died in Vienna on December 5, 1791.
