Piano Sonata No. 1 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, K 279 (189d) (1774) is a sonata in three movements. It was composed when Mozart was only 18 years old and is the first of a set of 18 Piano Sonatas written by Mozart. All but 2 of the sonatas, No. 8 in A minor and No. 14 in C minor are in a major key. The first of Mozart's Piano Sonatas seem to follow the cycle of fifths, to the flat side first (No. 1 In C major, No. 2 In F major, No. 3 In B Flat major, No. 4 In E Flat major) and then to the sharp side (No. 5 In G major, No. 6 In D major)
1. Allegro
The first movement, Allegro, is structured in sonata form; the exposition opens with a turning figure for the left hand, which forms the basis for much of this movement. After a repeat of the opening 2 bars, an alberti bass is introduced for the left hand, whilst the right hand plays the melody based on the opening turning figure. The opening section uses chromatic Appoggitaturas for colour. An Imperfect Cadence leads towards the dominant (G major) in preparation for the 2nd subject, as expected. The second subject focuses on rapid scales and leads to a perfect cadence in G major, ready for the development section. The exposition is repeated, which is standard for sonata form. The development begins in G minor uses the opening theme to follow a series of ascending arpeggios in several keys before moving towards G major and then back to the tonic, C major, for the recapitulation. The recapitulation follows a similar structure to the exposition, although the imperfect cadence that lead to the dominant previously now leads to the final 10 bars of the exposition, this time in the tonic key. The 1st Movement ends with a perfect cadence and a three bar elaboration on the tonic.
2. Andante
The Andante is full of expressive shading, the result of Mozart’s harmonic freedom. This movement is based in F major, the subdominant of the whole work's tonal home and is structured in Binary Form. By the end of the first section, Mozart has modulated to the dominant, C major and beings second section in this key. The work then quickly makes temporary transitions through G and D minor, in order to move back to the tonic. Here Mozart uses an exact copy of the opening theme to lead back to previously heard material, this time transposed up a perfect 4th, in order to remain in F major.
3. Allegro
The Allegro zips along in its 2/4 meter and is based in C major. This features an unusually active part for the left hand, another extended development section, and a surprising close: Mozart rounds the sonata off with two firm chords, which he marks Coda.
A typical performance takes about 14 minutes.[1]
The work was written down, except for the first part of the opening movement, during the visit Mozart paid to Munich for the production of La finta giardiniera from late 1774 to the beginning of the following March.[2]
References
- ^ IMSLP (Piano Sonata No. 1)
- ^ Donald J. Grout, et al. A history of western Music (8th Edition) Chapter 23 - Classical Music in the late 18th Century (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010) p.554
Cliff Eisen, et al. "Mozart." In Oxford Music Online, <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40258pg3>
Donald J. Grout, et al. A history of western Music (8th Edition) Chapter 23 - Classical Music in the late 18th Century (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010)
External links
- Sonate in C, KV 279: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
- Free scores by Piano Sonata No. 1 at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)