Mozart Symphony No. 41 in C, K551 "Jupiter" Analysis of Development and Recapitulation

Mozart Symphony No. 41 in C, K551 “Jupiter” Analysis of Development and Recapitulation

Development

First Development

The first development starts in the key of E flat major, piano dynamic markings, with woodwind playing a short passage, which then leads into the closing theme from the exposition which is played by the strings. An inverted pedal played by flutes and oboes plays on top while the closing theme continues, when it is then passed over onto the oboes and bassoons in bar 131. From bar 133 onwards starts a thematic development, as the piece goes through several different keys. The woodwind have taken the fanfare from bar 9 (brass do not play), and are using it as a counter-melody, to aid the harmonic changes the piece is going through. The first subject taken for thematic development is taken from the end of the exposition, bar 108 in the violins. Here the theme is passed around between the strings, creating a rising sequence, while the harmony changes underneath, starting in E flat major, going from the dominant 7th, to the tonic 1st inversion, back to the dominant 7th first inversion, then the tonic. The cycle then starts again, but now in F minor, at beat 3 of bar 135, then beat 3 of bar 137 in G minor. In bar 139 the rising sequences start to descend in F minor, while the woodwind start to play longer notes, abandoning the fanfare and playing mostly thirds in the key, passing through E flat major again in bar 143.

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From bar 143 onwards the thematic development changes slightly, as the sequence ends, with an imperfect cadence from G7 to C minor, and the first subject for thematic development begins to become augmented, with the violins playing the new augmentation at bar 143, then having the flutes pick it up and continue. At bar 146 the oboes and bassoon take the theme and split it into 2 halves, and swap them around, helping to move the piece into G minor again at bar 147. Bar 150 sees the piece in D minor, and in bar 151 the piece moves from A minor to E major in bar 153, with the violas playing a dominant pedal. The tune is then briefly passed over to the woodwind for 3 bars when at bar 157 the strings return, now in a small transition section with a variation on the earlier theme playing while underneath the bass goes through E, E7 and Dim 7th into the key of F major, which is the start of the second development.

Second Development

This section, starting at bar 161, sounds similar to the exposition of the piece, but is different in several ways. Here the antecedent and consequent is played only by the strings, while bassoons accompany, then flutes and oboes in bar 165. At bar 166 the bassoons begin a chromatic ascent while the antecedent (now the new subject for thematic development) is played continuously by the strings. At bar 172 the piece is now in A minor, as it begins to go through a series of harmonic changes, starting in B7 at bar 172, E major at the start of bar 173, going to E min and then E dim in the last 2 beats, A at bar 174, D, D minor then D dim at bar 175 and then in G at bar 176. Bar 177 is in C, then C minor and finally in G at bar 179. While the piece goes through the key changes, the lower strings and woodwind play a 2 bar ostinato lasting from bar 171 to 181. The bass moves by chromatic step helping to smooth the transition as the piece goes through the different keys. The timpani join in at bar 177, indicating that the harmony has now stabilised itself.

At bar 181 the ostinato in the woodwind stops suddenly, and the first violins play the first theme of the development while the second violins and violas continue the ostinato, leading to bar 183 which sees a dominant pedal in the horns, preparing the piece to return to C, and the trumpets and timpani join in as well, giving further support and preparation, until bar 189 where the development then ends.