Cocktail Party Fact: The nickname wasn’t adopted until about 30 years after Mozart’s death, and it has nothing at all to do with the music, as far as anyone can tell.
Commitment Factor: About 35 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1788). A very grand, four-movement symphony including trumpets and timpani but (unusual for Mozart at this time) [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This symphony was probably not composed for performance in Prague, but it turned out to be very popular there–as was all of Mozart’s music. Prague was probably the most musically sophisticated city in Europe at this time (and in many ways it still is). P.S. There is no symphony No. 37 (it [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: The symphony was indeed composed and first performed in Linz–having nothing handy for an impromptu concert, Mozart had to write something fast (between about October 30 and the day of the performance, November 4)–in about five days!
Commitment Factor: About 30 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1783). A standard, four-movement symphony for “large” classical [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: Composed to honor one Siegmund Haffner on his being awarded a title by Emperor Joseph II, Mozart wrote the music so quickly that he forgot it entirely–when he retrieved the score six months later he was surprised that is was so good.
Commitment Factor: About 20 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1782). A standard, [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: Mozart wrote this masterpiece, which is sometimes known by the name of “Gran Partita,” as a kind of party music, to be played in the background while people socialized.
Commitment Factor: About 50 minutes.
Vital Statistics: Classical Period. A work in seven movements, scored for twelve wind instruments: 2 clarinets, 2 basset horns, 2 [...]

Commitment Factor: 45 - 50 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1791). Composed for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, the work consists of the text of the Latin Requiem in which each major section is arranged for a different combination of forces.
What to Listen For: As with all works employing a text, it’s important that you follow the [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: The gorgeous middle movement of this concerto was such a hit with the opening-night audience that Mozart had to repeat it.
Commitment Factor: About 35 minutes.
Vital Statistics: Classical Period.
What to Listen For: The first and last movements are in the sunny key of E flat major, but with many Mozartean digressions. Note especially [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: Incredibly, this splendid composition — the flowering of Mozart’s maturity as a composer of piano concertos, and perhaps the most popular of all his concertos with modern listeners — disappointed the audience at its premiere in 1785. In fact, the legendary financial troubles that afflicted Mozart can be said to have begun [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: Mozart originally included a second minuet before the slow movement of his famous “A Little Night-Music,” but he later changed his mind and the movement is now lost.
Commitment Factor: About 18 minutes.
Vital Statistics: Classical Period. A four-movement work for string orchestra.
What to Listen For: This beloved composition is so familiar to [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: Probably the most famous violin concerto ever written–you’ll recognize it immediately.
Commitment Factor: About 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Romantic Period (1844). This concerto employs the usual, three-movement form (fast-slow-fast), but with a couple of unique features: first, the violin begins immediately, without the usual long orchestral introduction. This innovation set the pattern for virtually [...]