15th Piano Concerto (Mozart)

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The 15th Piano Concerto in B flat major, KV 450 , is a piano concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . In counting the pure piano concertos by Mozart, it is the 9th concert.

Emergence

The virtuoso 15th Piano Concerto was written in Vienna in 1784 and belongs to the second group of Mozart's Vienna Concerts. It is Mozart's first major piano concerto in a new and authoritative form. The wind instruments appear independently as melody instruments for the first time, and the formal structure has been expanded in many ways. Mozart composed the work for his own performances in Vienna and entered it on March 15, 1784 in his catalog raisonné. He played it for the first time on March 24, 1784 as part of a private concert series in the Trattnerhof .

To the music

1st movement: Allegro

As if to cement the new understanding of the obligatory winds, the first movement begins with a pure woodwind motif. This is answered by the strings and formulated together on the first topic. A more lyrical second theme is intoned by the winds and played around by the strings. The solo piano introduces itself with a small solo cadence before taking up the first theme. Now the piano is developing a new third theme, a complex structure of figurative , orchestral and melodic elements. The short implementation is started from solo piano and contributes more like an imagination implementing because they are not very works thematically. An organ point leads to the return of the first theme and to the recapitulation . Compared to the exposition, however, this is very different, which is not unusual in the type of the great classical piano concerto. For example, the third theme now also appears in the solo piano. The virtuoso solo cadenza proceeds thematically. The orchestra ends the movement with elements from the main theme.

2nd movement: Andante

The short 2nd movement is a variation movement that deals with a theme in a variety of ways. It is presented by the strings, and the solo piano repeats it. The three groups of instruments are used in a varied and alternating manner in this movement. The strings and piano begin the first variation together after introducing the theme one after the other. The soloist plays around the lyrical melody of the strings. The piano can then be heard solo again at the beginning of the second variation. The strings play pizzicato for the first time when the winds are used . The movement ends with a coda introduced by dynamic differentiation.

3rd movement: Allegro

The grand final rondo begins with the refrain in the solo piano. The orchestral tutti rhythmically takes over the thoughts in the tutti. A second thought in the solo piano is complementary to the chorus theme. The first couplet brings another thought and ends with a long organ point. The long second couplet develops a new theme in E flat major. It places higher demands on the soloist than any of the previous rondos. Again composed Mozart a through portion into the Rondo form. An interplay between oboe and solo piano develops, accompanied by flute, oboe, bassoon and horn in an unusually close range. This is followed by a surprising modulation from G minor to A major. After the short solo cadenza , a figured fanfare concludes the concert.

Status

The 15th Piano Concerto is a milestone among Mozart's piano concertos, even if the development towards this point advanced in stages. In this work Mozart finally detached himself from the traditional forms of the concert movement. The role of the winds as an obligatory part of the concert is also consolidated for the following piano concertos. It is this connection between the different soundscapes of strings, woodwinds and solo piano that is new in music history. With the 15th Piano Concerto, Mozart broke new ground, pointing to Ludwig van Beethoven and the perfect classical form. This is practiced and perfected throughout the following piano concertos up to the last, the 27th piano concerto KV 595 . The entrance hall has finally expanded into large orchestral expositions . Soloist and orchestra lead an independent life and are charmingly linked to one another. As already announced in many earlier concerts, Mozart proceeds more and more freely with the fixed formal principles and interprets them anew for his own purposes. The virtuoso concerts place higher demands on the pianist. The 15th Piano Concerto in particular is one of Mozart's most technically demanding concerts, which, according to his own statement, “made you sweat”. The musical material is also condensed and multiplied in the big concerts. The first movement of the 15th piano concerto has three themes, one of which is withheld from the soloist.

With this and the following piano concertos, Mozart opened up a new world in music history. While maintaining certain traditional basic principles, he succeeded in realizing a maximum of creativity.

literature

  • Hansjürgen Schaefer: concert book orchestral music GO. VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1978, ISBN 3-370-00036-9 .
  • Harenberg concert guide. Harenberg Kommunikation, Dortmund 1998, ISBN 3-611-00535-5 .
  • Marius Flothuis: Mozart's Piano Concertos. CH Beck Wissen, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-41874-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Marius Flothuis: Mozart's Piano Concertos. Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi 2001. p. 33