Giovanni Antonini Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Joseph Martin Kraus
Joseph Haydn

In Vienna, Stockholm, and London, three composers created works that have retained their power through the centuries. Mozart's Gran Partita made (at least if we are to believe the film Amadeus) the composer Salieri hear "the voice of God." Kraus's Olympie overture reveals a composer who dared to give his emotions free rein. And Haydn's farewell symphony is a prime example of why he is known today as the father of the symphony.

Mozart: Gran Partita KV. 361

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's serenade for winds and double bass, Gran Partita, was composed in 1781. It was entertainment music, a type of work in high demand in the late 18th century, written to entertain the elite. The serenade consists of seven movements, and the third is especially well known. In the Oscar-winning film Amadeus, we see the composer Antonio Salieri reminisce about his first encounter with Mozart's music, which is this very movement. He is utterly astonished and says, "it was as though I were hearing the voice of God."

The serenade alternates between passages of virtuosic interplay and beautiful solos from the various instruments. The music is melodic, playful, and expressive.

Kraus: Olympie Overture

"Kraus was the first genius I ever met," Joseph Haydn is reported to have said after hearing Joseph Martin Kraus's (1756–1792) Symphony in C minor. Kraus's music is fervently passionate, and the same is true of the overture to the opera Olympie.

Olympie was written for the Swedish court theatre in the late 18th century. The overture establishes expectations for what is to unfold in the opera. Kraus composes in strict Classical form but with a more emotionally charged style than Haydn and Mozart. Some therefore consider Kraus to offer clear foreshadowings of Romantic characteristics. The Olympie overture is not often performed, but it is a dramatic and captivating work.

Haydn: Symphony No. 104 "London"

When Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) arrived in London in the early 1790s, he was received like a rock star. He wrote twelve symphonies for the London audience. The last of these, No. 104, has been given the nickname "London" and was performed in 1795 as part of Haydn's farewell concert as a composer in London. It was met with thunderous applause and enthusiasm.

Haydn is known today as the father of the symphony, because he gave it form, structure, drama, and musical wit. Symphony No. 104 is a prime example of what Haydn did for the symphony.