Mozart’s Unacknowledged Triptych of Symphonies

Mozart's symphony No. 41 in C, also known at the "Jupiter" symphony, is likely the last in a series of three symphonies of a triptych. Orchestra of St. Luke's performing Mozart's "Jupiter" at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 7, 2018. Steve J. Sherman

In the summer of 1788, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed three 4-movement symphonies in the space of two months. Given the composer’s situation at the time, a financial condition best described as debt-ridden, one would assume he had been handsomely commissioned to spend precious weeks laboring over lengthy, complex scores.

That assumption would be wrong. No one knows for certain why Mozart composed the works we know as his last symphonies: No. 39 in E-flat, No. 40 in G minor, and No. 41 in C, the latter nicknamed “Jupiter.” There is no record of a commission, and the symphonies were likely not performed in his lifetime. Mozart died in 1791.