The second symphony Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote after the 14-year-old composer returned to Salzburg from his second tour of Italy was the Symphony No. 15 in G major, K 124. Completed on February 21, 1771, the work is slightly more serious and slightly more conventional than its predecessor completed less than two months earlier. Scored for winds and strings, the opening Allegro in triple time starts with an angular theme that dominates the development section, especially in the false reprise in the relative minor. The following quiet Andante in duple time retains the full orchestra with strings dominating, but it is touched with delicate oboe and horn chords at key points. The following Menuetto is vigorous almost to the point of brusqueness, while the central Trio is a cantabile scored for strings alone. The closing Presto in duple time is a cheerful rondo that opens with the same fanfare as the previous symphony, but the remainder of the movement is cheerful, if conventional, until the coda goes through a quick and quirky series of fanfares, syncopated chords, tremolos, culminating in a brilliant final fanfare.

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