Music library › Classical themes
Symphony No. 40 (opening)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1788. Excerpt, written out for reading practice.
- Music
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Date
- 1788
- Key
- G minor
- Time
- 2/2
- Clef
- Treble
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- Excerpt
About the music
Mozart wrote his last three symphonies in about six weeks in the summer of 1788. No. 40 in G minor is one of only two symphonies he wrote in a minor key, and its restless opening theme, played by the violins over murmuring violas, is instantly recognisable.
It is in G minor (two flats) and cut time: two half-note beats a bar. The theme is a sigh of two notes (E♭ to D) repeated, then sequenced lower and lower.
Reading tips
- Feel two beats per bar, not four. The eighth notes are quick.
- With two flats, every E and B is flat. The leap up to B♭5 needs one ledger line.
- The F♯ near the end is an accidental: it leads to G, the home note of G minor.
How to practice it
Read the piece through once without playing, naming the starting note and looking for patterns and repeats. Then press Play and follow the notes as they light up. When you are ready, choose Practice this piece: it opens in the practice tool, where you can slow it down, play along on the on-screen piano, a MIDI keyboard or your voice, and have every note checked.