A Symbol of Gratitude? Mozart Symphonies 39 and 40 - heard by ROBERT ANDERSON '... vitality and alertness ...'

During the summer of 1788, when Mozart wrote his last three symphonies, he was in a financial mess. As was to happen repeatedly, he turned for aid to a fellow mason, Michael Puchberg. Could it be that the start of Symphony 39, like the far more obvious exordium to the Magic Flute overture, was a symbol of gratitude to the freemasonry that meant so much to his spirit and his purse?..

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

HARMONIA MUNDI

RENE JACOBS

AUSTRIA

GERMANY

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC