The Mozart family had known the Haffner family for many years, ever since Sigmund Haffner, mayor of Salzburg, had supported the first European tours of the child prodigies Wolfgang and Nannerl. Years later, in 1776, the twenty-year-old Wolfgang thanked the prophetic gesture by writing a serenade for the marriage of one of Sigmund's daughters. Warmly received, the piece became famous as the Haffner Serenade. And that would have been the end of it, had it not been for the fact that in 1782 Sigmund Jr., a friend of Mozart's, was granted a noble title. Nothing better occurred to Leopold Mozart than asking his son, in Vienna at the time and about to marry, to compose a symphony to celebrate the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner, Jr.
In mid-1782, Mozart was enjoying the success of his last opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and was busy writing an arrangement for a wind band "before someone else does it and takes my profits". He was also writing another serenade (in C minor for winds) and preparing for his marriage. He was very busy. But he accomplished everything. Or almost everything. Between July 20 and August 6, the maestro finished the arrangement, the serenade for winds, married Constanza, and sent her father the first movement of a Symphony, a movement that, apparently, arrived just in time for the celebration. The remaining movements arrived, one by one, in each mail.
Music for Lent
Six months later, Mozart was organizing a concert with his music for the Lenten days of 1783. Since the symphony intended for Haffner was probably known only in Salzburg, he asked his father to send him back the manuscripts. When he had them in hand, he wrote to him, "The new Haffner Symphony has pleasantly surprised me, because I had forgotten almost all the notes." However, the maestro decided to redesign the piece, which by then had six movements.
He discarded one of the two minuets and the concluding march, then added a pair of flutes and a pair of clarinets to the first and fourth movements, and offered the Viennese a new piece on March 23, 1783, at the Burgtheater in Vienna.
The premiere
Under the leadership of the author, it turned out to be a great success. Wolfgang told his father:
"The theater could not have been more crowded and.... every seat was taken. But what pleased me most of all was that His Majesty the Emperor was present and, heavens! - How delighted he was and how he applauded me! He is in the habit of sending the money to the theater before he arrives. Otherwise, I would have been counting a larger amount. But his rejoicing exceeded all bounds. He sent 25 ducats."
A Hamburg magazine reviewed the concert, noting that the emperor, against his custom, "had attended the entire concert, as had the entire audience." ... The customs of those years.
A rather curious program
As was also the custom, the program of the evening seems to us today somewhat curious, to say the least. It began with the first three movements of the symphony. It was followed by arias, "scenes" from operas, a couple of movements from recent serenades, a piano concerto (K 175), variations on arias; Aloysia Weber (now Lange), Wolfgang's former love, sang one of his rondos, and then Wolfgang improvised a fugue, "because the emperor was present". In the end, the fourth movement of the Haffner Symphony was played. Finally.
Following are the four movements, one after the other, in just under 20 minutes.
Symphony No. 35 in D major, K 385, "Haffner" - Movements
00:00 Allegro con spirito - Must be played fiercely, Wolfgang pointed out.
05:38 Andante - A respite, after the spirited allegro, soft and beautiful melodies.
10:08 Menuetto - Brilliant change of atmosphere.
13:10 Presto - As fiery as the first, it should be played as fast as possible, the composer pointed out.
The Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome, under the baton of the British conductor and pianist Sir Antonio Pappano.
