Symphony No.5 in B-flat major (K.22) (Full Score)

Mozart Symphony No.5 in B-flat major (K.22) (Full Score)

The Symphony in B-flat major K.22 has come down to us in a full score in the hand of Leopold Mozart and is located today in the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin.  Besides the date, December 1765, it also contains a later annotation in the hand of Constanze Mozart’s second husband, Georg Nikolaus Nissen: “For the investiture of the hereditary statthalter”. 

This posthumous ascription is, however, open to question.  From 10 September the Mozarts had been staying in The Hague, where Nannerl fell seriously ill in mid-November.  Hardly had she begun to recover than her little brother likewise fell ill.  It was not until 10 December that Wolfgang found himself on the road to recovery.  The children’s first public concert in The Hague was held on 22 January.  However, the next important date in their schedule, a festive concert at court for the investiture of Prince Wilhelm of Orange, did not take place until 11 March.  It was for these ceremonies that Mozart wrote his quodlibet Galimathias musicum (K.32); Leopold Mozart’s violin tutor was presented to the prince in a new edition translated into Dutch; and Wolfgang’s fourth opus to appear in print, the six sonatas for piano and violin, K.26-31, was dedicated to Princess Caroline of Nassau-Weilburg.  Still, we have no means of establishing a more precise date for K.22.  Nor is there any further information on its performance at a festive concert on 11 March or any evidence that it was dedicated to the prince.  Whatever the case, the date of December 1765 allows us to conclude that it was composed while Wolfgang was convalescing from his nearly mortal illness.

- Urtext of the New Mozart Edition

- Full score and performance material (BA9167) available for sale