I. Allegro vivace II. Andante cantabile III. Menuetto allegretto IV. Molto allegro
 

To this day, musical scholarship does not know for what occasion Mozart wrote his final three symphonies, and even whether were performed in his lifetime. What is know with certainty is that the E flat major, G minor and C major symphonies were written in the summer of 1788. Mozart recorded the completion of the C major symphony in his own notebook that he had kept reasonably regularly since 1784. Perhaps he had intended one of the symphonies for a composer’s evening – however, contemporary newspapers make no reference to any such event. The nickname of Jupiter is another mystery, although recent research makes it probable that it was bestowed on the C major symphony by Johann Peter Salomon, the commissioner of Haydn’s "London" symphonies. The name is fortuitous, since the opening movement begins with a glorious, energetic theme. The large-scale sonata form movement is succeeded by a slow movement, Andante cantabile, which is both declamatory and profoundly eloquent. The minuet has great momentum, paving the way for the extraordinary finale. This starts as though it were a fugue, and is regarded as one of the greatest achievements of contrapuntal writing, by Mozart or by anyone else. The principal theme is one that recurs throughout Mozart’s oeuvre, although it has been linked to a Gregorian melody. Some have claimed that Mozart was influenced the contrapuntal works of Joseph Haydn’s brother, Michael. While there is no doubting that Mozart respected Michael Haydn, there is also no dispute that this symphony and particularly the contrapuntal finale, leaves any model trailing spectacularly in Mozart’s wake.