[2][3] The work is nicknamed the Jupiter Symphony, probably coined by the impresario Johann Peter Salomon.

The four movements are arranged in the traditional symphonic form of the Classical era: The symphony typically has a duration of about 33 minutes.

The sonata form first movement's main theme begins with contrasting motifs: a threefold tutti outburst on the fundamental tone (respectively, by an ascending motion leading in a triplet from the dominant tone underneath to the fundamental one), followed by a more lyrical response.

The first theme group's final flourishes then are extensively developed against a chromatically falling bass followed by a restatement of the end of the insertion aria then leading to C major for the true recapitulation.

After a development section, the recapitulation begins in the subdominant key of B♭ major, though a secondary development section disrupts the recapitulation with rhythmic figures before the return to F.[7] The third movement, a menuetto marked "allegretto" is similar to a Ländler, a popular Austrian folk dance form.

Midway through the movement, there is a chromatic progression in which sparse imitative textures are presented by the woodwinds (bars 43–51) before the full orchestra returns.

[8] Finally, a distinctive characteristic of this symphony is the five-voice quintuple fugato (representing the five major themes) at the end of the fourth movement.

[9] The four-note theme is a common plainchant motif which can be traced back at least as far as Thomas Aquinas's "Pange lingua gloriosi corporis mysterium" from the 13th century.

The four-note motif is also the main theme of the contrapuntal finale of Michael's elder brother Joseph's Symphony No.

According to Franz Mozart, Wolfgang's younger son, the symphony was given the name Jupiter by Johann Peter Salomon,[4][13] who had settled in London in around 1781.

[16] The Times of Thursday, May 8, 1817, carries an advertisement for a concert to be given in the Hanover Square Rooms on "Friday next, May 9" to include "Grand Sinfonie (Jupiter), Mozart".

The Morning Post of Tuesday, June 3, 1817, carries an advertisement for printed music that includes: "The celebrated movement from Mozart's sympathy [sic], called 'Jupiter', arranged as a Duet, by J. Wilkins, 4s.

In a phrase ascribed to musicologist Elaine Sisman in her book Mozart: The 'Jupiter' Symphony,[17] most responses ranged "from admiring to adulatory, a gamut from A to A".

[18] As summarized below, the symphony garnered approbation from critics, theorists, composers, and biographers and came to be viewed as a canonized masterwork known for its fugue and its overall structure that exuded clarity.

[22] The record labels list the Victor Concert Orchestra as the performers; they omit the conductor, who according to company ledgers was Walter B.