Symphony No. 45 in D major (doubtful), K. 95
von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony in D major (K. 95), sometimes numbered “Symphony No. 45,” is a work traditionally linked with Mozart’s Italian journey of 1770, when he was 14. Its attribution remains doubtful, since no autograph score survives and the surviving sources do not allow firm authentication.
What Is Known
The Symphony in D major, K. 95 is transmitted in non-autograph sources and is listed today as a work of doubtful authenticity in the Mozarteum’s Köchel catalogue entry.[1] Older cataloguing associated it with Rome in 1770 (Mozart’s first Italian trip), but scholars note that the specific grounds for that place-and-date assignment are not securely documented; the absence of an autograph score remains the central problem for attribution.[2]
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Even so, K. 95 has often been discussed alongside the neighboring D-major symphonies from the Italian tour (notably K. 97) as plausibly Mozartian in musical language, while still requiring caution in authorship claims.[3]
Musical Content
K. 95 survives as an apparently complete four-movement symphony, in the familiar fast–slow–minuet–fast pattern:[3]
- I. Allegro (D major)
- II. Andante (G major)
- III. Menuetto (D major) with Trio (D minor)
- IV. Allegro (D major)
The scoring, as transmitted, reflects the bright, ceremonial D-major symphony type: pairs of oboes and trumpets with strings (with the customary 18th-century practice of reinforcing the bass line by bassoons and/or harpsichord when available). Notably, the trumpets drop out in the Andante, which is colored instead by softer wind writing.[3] In its compact scale (around a dozen minutes), the work fits the kind of concise, travel-period symphony Mozart and his father Leopold sought out—and sometimes emulated—during the Italian months of 1770, even if K. 95 itself cannot be assigned to Mozart with certainty.[2]
[1] Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum (Köchel-Verzeichnis): KV 95 “Symphony in D” — status, key, and instrumentation; marked “Work of doubtful authenticity.”
[2] Wikipedia: “Mozart symphonies of spurious or doubtful authenticity” — summary discussion of K. 95/73n and the attribution problem (lack of autograph; grounds for Rome/1770 assignment unstated).
[3] Wikipedia: “Symphony, K. 95 (Mozart)” — movement list and overview of scoring and historical attribution discussions.