The symphony starts with the same measure length as any other Mozart’s creation, but there is a difference that can be spotted right away in the case of Symphony #41, which is the playing time that does not go in hand with measure counting. It would take a soloist 11 and a half minutes to go through the first movement, and it is rightfully considered the second longest first movement in the whole of Mozart’s symphony list. The tempo is rather brisk but still not as long as the first movement for Mozart’s “Prague” which takes almost 18 minutes to finish (Service). Nevertheless, Jupiter is a unique symphony since Mozart was able to achieve the given length of composition without recapitulations and only using pauses where acceptable instead of setting up melodic transitions. It may be claimed that Symphony #41 is an iconic Mozart composition that stands out due to its unorthodox structure.
Another point of interest that has to be mentioned here is the presence of the second subject area. The latter can be considered a mini-symphony on its own since it contains all the required elements. For instance, throughout the quasi-development stage (starting with measure 55), Mozart finally steps away from the main key (measure 81) and creates a transition that increases the feeling of dominance (measure 100) just to come back to the tonic sounds in measure 101. Therefore, the audience gets the Second Subject IV instead of a repetition of the Second Subject I, which ultimately strengthens the harmonic structure of the symphony as a whole instead of contributing to the melody. Mozart does not follow the exact sonata form with his Symphony #41, and exactly that is what sets it apart from any other opus in his composition selection.
Work Cited
Service, Tom. “Symphony Guide: Mozart’s 41St (‘Jupiter’).” The Guardian, 2014, Web.