Symphony No.35 in D major, K.385 "Haffner"

Haffner's Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385, takes us back to the happy year of 1782, when Mozart not only enjoyed the triumph of the opera Abduction from the Seraglio, but also married his beloved Constanze, despite the disapproval of both families. The genealogy of the symphony called the Haffner begins with the Serenade in D major, K.250 (Haffnerserenade), commissioned by Sigmund Haffner Jr. for the wedding of Maria Elisabeth Haffner and Franz Spath in 1776. The Mozart family were on close terms with the Haffner family, one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Salzburg. Siegmund Hafner senior was mayor of the city and was very helpful to Leopold Mozart for Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl's early concert tours in Europe. When he died, the families continued to maintain a cordial relationship. So for the forthcoming conferment of a noble title on Sigmund Hafner Jr. in 1782, Leopold asked his son to write music for the occasion. Wolfgang is bogged down with work, finishing the score of Abduction from the Seraglio , giving lessons, about to move into a new home with Constanze, and yet he writes a new Serenade. He and Sigmund Jr. are peers and friends. This Serenade is quite different from the one presented earlier - it is an opening march and two minuets. Later Mozart decided to perform it at one of his academies, his father sending back the score from Salzburg. Amadeus was astonished by the music he had composed and turned it into Symphony No. 35. In a letter to Leopold, he notes, "The new symphony for Hafner came as a complete surprise to me, for I did not remember a single note of it. It should undoubtedly produce a good effect'. He builds the work in four movements - dropping the march and one of the minuets, giving the orchestra a fuller sound with the addition of two flutes and two clarinets in the framing first and fourth movements. The premiere was on 23 March 1783 at the Burgtheater, and the program of this composer's academy included: the first three movements of the new Haffner symphony, an aria from the opera Idomeneo with soloist Aloysia Lange. Mozart plays one of his piano concertos, Adamberger performs a concert aria. Next: finale of a small Symphonie Concertante, the piano concerto in D major (K. 175), Mademoiselle Taiber sings a scene from an opera composed in Milan. And since the Emperor is present, Amadeus plays a little fugue especially for him and improvises variations on themes from operas by Paisiello and Gluck. Then Aloysia Lange performs another new work, the Rondo. This long concerto ends with the finale of the Haffner Symphony.

From today's point of view, it is strange to perform the symphony in movements, but this was once acceptable and practised. The work certainly bears the imprint of Mozart's deep respect for Hafner with the solemn brilliance of the first movement in which he masterfully employs a contrapuntal technique. After the exquisite Andante and the fresh, Viennese in spirit little Menuet, the symphony ends with an energetic, urgent finale. In it, the image of Osmin from The Abduction from the Seraglio seems to peep out. And for his performance, Amadeus explicitly stated that he would like it to be played as fast as the musicians can.