1. Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat
major A cheery skipping horn tune coupled with playful strings – Mozart’s Horn
Concerto No. 4 is enough to put anyone in good mood. He wrote it for his friend
Joseph Leutgeb to play on a natural horn, a predecessor to the modern French
horn.
2. The Marriage of Figaro Lively,
cheeky, funny – Mozart had a sense of humour, and you can hear it from the word
go in this cheerful opera. It’s a great love-story, with a few cases of
mistaken identity, trickery, and practical jokes thrown in for good measure.
Musical highlights include the ‘Sull’aria’ duet, and the soprano aria ‘Porgi,
amor’.
3. Piano Concerto No. 21 ('Elvira
Madigan') in C major. Mozart’s 1785 beautiful piano concerto is often used in
films – you’ll hear it in Superman Returns, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Elvira
Madigan, giving the music its unofficial nickname.
5. Così Fan Tutte Expect fiancée swapping, disguises, and
trickery aplenty in this jaunty opera from Mozart. It’s one of the three operas
composed to a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, and the vocal writing captures the
Italian flavour of the words perfectly.
6. Clarinet Quintet in A major
Mozart only wrote one clarinet quintet – a piece for string quartet plus
clarinet – but he’s proven he knows how to get the best from the instrument.
The lyrical tunes and the similarities to the clarinet concerto have ensured
both pieces remain extremely popular: both are in A major, and they were
written for the same clarinetist, Anton Stadler.
7. The Magic Flute. A handsome
prince, a serpent, and three ladies who produce an enchanted flute with the
power to change men’s hearts? Mozart's opera is a bit of a musical pantomime,
with some brilliant songs thrown in for good measure: the famously difficult
‘Queen of the Night’ aria, ‘Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen’, is just
one of them.
8. Symphony No. 41 ('Jupiter') in
C major. A fitting conclusion to Mozart’s 41 symphonies, ‘Jupiter’ showcases
the best of all the composer’s styles. It’s majestic and impressive with a
playful lightness of touch and humour – a perfect mix of musical genius and
friendly accessible tunes.
9. Exsultate, jubilate. If you
like Mozart’s operas, this solo religious motet is bound to impress. Originally
written for a male castrato singer, it’s now usually performed by a female
singer. The final movement, setting just the word ‘Alleluia’ to fast running
quavers, is a masterpiece.
10. Concerto for Flute, Harp, and
Orchestra in C major. When Mozart wrote this concerto in 1778, the harp was
still being developed. This is the only piece of music he wrote for the
instrument, but the writing for each soloist is carefully crafted – it’s
something of a showpiece for harpists who can get their fingers round the
difficult passages.
11. Clarinet Concerto. This
brilliant piece is one of the last works Mozart wrote before he died in 1791.
It seems he was saving the best ‘til last with this concerto for clarinet –
it’s the only concerto he wrote for the instrument. Cheery yet graceful, the clarinet’s
warm tone brings the beautifully simple tunes to life, and it’s always a high
entry in the Classic FM Hall of Fame.
12. Requiem. An anonymous commission prompted Mozart to
start writing his Requiem. After taking on the project, he started experiencing
‘very strange thoughts’, and began to fear he was writing a requiem for his own
death. The result? A moving piece, with passages of fearful angst and resolute
acceptance, left unfinished by the time Mozart died in 1791.
13. Mass No. 15 in C major
('Coronation') This is a much lighter version of Mozart’s Mass settings, one
where he wasn’t fearful of his own death. Regal and grand, the ‘Coronation’
mass shows classical choral writing at its best, and the flowing soprano solo
in the ‘Agnus Dei’ may have inspired the ‘Dove Sono’ aria from The Marriage of
Figaro, written seven years later.
14. Haydn Quartets. Mozart
composed 23 string quartets, but the set of six dedicated to Haydn are some of
the best examples of the genre. From the mysterious ‘Dissonance’ Quartet, No.
19, to the lively ‘Hunt’, No. 17, the six quartets cover a wide emotional
range. What’s more, Haydn loved them, saying Mozart was the greatest composer
he knew.
15. Symphony No. 40 in G
minor. There’s a reason this stormy symphony
is often called ‘The Great G minor’. It’s a powerful piece from the off, and
it’s packed with catchy tunes. Rushing passages are appeased with relaxing
heart-warming harmonies, until the piece comes to a close in a frenzied finish.