Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

When considering the instrumentation of the orchestra, with few notable exceptions, it is apparent that each instrument has a niche. What few stop to consider is how this came to pass. What caused the standardization of orchestral instrumentation? This quandary has no simple answer, and a full enumeration of reasons would take far longer than most have either time or capacity to give audience to. One of the more apparent explanations can be ascribed to one of the most prolific composers of the Classical Period: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In this essay, I will be detailing how, through his career as both a performer and composer, Mozart is directly responsible for further developing the standardized instrumentation of the orchestra. By looking
During this period, from 1773-1777, Mozart composed in numerous styles for a multitude of ensembles, including symphonies, masses, operas, string quartets, serenades, and sonatas, as well as his five violin concertos, and his Piano Concerto in E-flat K.271, which is regarded as one of the finest of the genre. It was during this time that Mozart’s Symphonies began to more frequently include Trumpet and Timpani, and further expanded his parts to include more than two of like instruments. As seen in Figure 3 from his Symphony No. 25 in G minor K. 183, Mozart began expanding from the more traditional two horns to what is now the standard four
During his last few years, Mozart composed his most popular works, particularly, his Symphonies, Nos. 31-41, his late operas, Don Giovani, Die Zauberflöte, Cosi fan tutte, Clarinet Concerto in A Major, and finally, his unfinished Requiem Mass in D minor.
At this stage, Mozart had set his standard instrumentation for writing his symphonies. Every single one of his last eleven symphonies includes parts for Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, Horn, Trumpet, Timpani, and Strings. His Symphony No. 31 in D Major was the first of his symphonies to include Clarinet, now an important staple in the Orchestra. Figure 7 illustrates the standard instrumentation for Mozart’s Symphonies from 1778, until Mozart’s last symphony, Symphony No. 41 in C Major “Jupiter”, in 1788. The one work that served to secure the Standard Orchestral instrumentation, save for the invention of the Tuba in 1835, and the Bass Clarinet replacing the Basset Horn, would be Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D Minor, K. 626. Not only was this one of the most significant sacred works, but it assured that the Trombone, had an important voice, one that demanded to be