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Symphony No. 40, K. 550

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) · sheet music

  • Key G minor
  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 9
  • Passages 2

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian classical (1756–1791). The reading release has 2 passages from this piece at level 9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 2–9 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 2–9 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Symphony No. 40, K. 550.

  1. Hands together · bars 2–9 level 9

How to play Symphony No. 40, K. 550

  1. Tempo:Molto allegro does not mean frantic; pick a tempo where the restless accompaniment stays even and the opening melody still has room to breathe.
  2. Right hand:The tune is built from short, sighing two-note groups, so play the first note of each pair with more weight and release the second one gently.
  3. Left hand:The left hand repeats notes in a steady pulse; keep them even and light so the melody can sing over the top.
  4. Reading:G minor has two flats, but raised notes appear often, so scan each phrase for accidentals and ledger lines before you play.
  5. Hands together:Practice the first phrase hands separately until you hear the melody and the accompaniment as two parts, then put them together at half speed.
  6. Dynamics:Mozart moves between soft and loud suddenly, so mark the changes and play the contrasts without hurrying.
  7. Rhythm:In the minuet section, mark the cross-accent in the melody against the three-beat pulse so you feel the tension.
  8. Practice:Loop each four-bar phrase until the fingering is automatic, then connect phrases and listen for the line.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the busy accompaniment cover the opening melody. Fix: Make the left hand quiet and even, and shape the right hand as the only line that sings.
  • Missing accidentals that create the minor-key color. Fix: Mark each accidental with a pencil before you play and replay the phrase until it is secure.
  • Rushing the repeated-note accompaniment so the melody sounds hurried. Fix: Keep a metronome at half speed until the repeated notes feel relaxed.
  • Treating every phrase end as a full stop. Fix: Let the sound taper at the end of each phrase and begin the next one with a breath.

Structure: four-movement symphony (fast, slow, minuet, finale)

The symphony follows the classical plan of a fast opening, a lyrical slow movement, a minuet with trio, and a quick finale. Three of the four movements are in G minor; only the slow movement turns to a major key, which gives the whole work a pressured feel. The finale opens with a rising rocket-like figure and stays in the minor until its last chord.

I · Molto allegro (G minor)
Urgent and anxious: a murmuring accompaniment starts first, then a falling, sighing theme enters above it. Expect repeated notes in the accompaniment and a melody that moves in small steps.
II · Andante (E-flat major)
A lyrical movement in compound meter with a gently flowing melody. Smooth phrasing is the main task.
III · Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio (G minor, trio in G major)
A minuet that begins with an angry, cross-accented rhythm, followed by a calmer trio. Accents and rhythm are the main reading challenge.
IV · Finale: Allegro assai (G minor)
A fast finale that opens with a rocket-like rising figure. Quick runs and leaps reward careful fingering.

About Symphony No. 40, K. 550

Mozart entered his Symphony No. 40 in his catalogue on 25 July 1788, between Symphony No. 39 (finished in June) and No. 41, the Jupiter (finished in August). He wrote the three in a matter of weeks, and the conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt has suggested they were conceived as one unified work. No premiere date is known, but there is evidence of likely performances in Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfurt, and Vienna between 1789 and 1791.

There are two versions: the first for a smaller wind section, and a later one that adds clarinets and adjusts the other winds. Mozart probably made the second after hearing the symphony, since the revision suggests he knew how it sounded.

The symphony is one of only two Mozart wrote in a minor key, and its dark, urgent mood stood out. Robert Schumann heard in it Grecian lightness and grace, while Charles Rosen described it as a work of passion, violence, and grief. It has remained one of Mozart's most admired and most often played works.

  • The famous opening theme does not start the piece alone: the violas and lower strings begin with a restless accompaniment figure before the melody enters.
  • Among the sketches for his Fifth Symphony, Beethoven copied out 29 bars from the finale of this symphony.
  • Schubert copied out the minuet from this symphony.
  • A modulating passage at the start of the finale's development uses every note of the chromatic scale except G.

Why the first passage is level 9

That passage is level 9 rather than 8 because it reaches 4 ledger lines, the clef changes partway through.

These passages are taken from a piano arrangement of the orchestral symphony and sit at the top reading levels, with several ledger lines above and below the staff. Read the clef changes and accidentals carefully.

Questions about Symphony No. 40, K. 550

How hard is Symphony No. 40, K. 550 to play?
Its passages grade from level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 2–9 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Symphony No. 40, K. 550 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 9, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 2–9 for both hands together, the level-9 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 9 because it reaches 4 ledger lines and the clef changes partway through.
What key and time signature is Symphony No. 40, K. 550 in?
Symphony No. 40, K. 550 is in G minor, 2 flats. The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Symphony No. 40, K. 550?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian classical (1756–1791). Mozart entered his Symphony No.
Can I practice Symphony No. 40, K. 550 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from Symphony No. 40, K. 550 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Why is Mozart's Symphony No. 40 called the Great G minor?
To tell it apart from his Symphony No. 25, which is also in G minor and is sometimes called the Little G minor. The nickname is informal rather than something Mozart wrote.
When did Mozart write Symphony No. 40?
He finished it in 1788, and it is entered in his catalogue on 25 July. He composed Symphonies No. 39, 40, and 41 within a few weeks of each other that summer.
Did Mozart hear Symphony No. 40 performed?
Probably. No premiere date is known, but there is evidence of performances between 1789 and 1791, and the revised version with clarinets suggests Mozart had heard how the first version sounded.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 2 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 9
bars 2–9 both hands · bars 3–10 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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