Piano Sonata No. 18 (Mozart)

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (posthumous portrait by Barbara Krafft )

The Sonata no. 18 in D major KV 576 is the last piano sonata by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . He dedicated the work, composed in Vienna in 1789, to the Prussian Princess Friederike, the first daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm II.

The contrapuntal leading of the first movement shows the influence of Johann Sebastian Bach , while in the processing of the themes the preoccupation with Joseph Haydn can be felt. Contrary to Mozart's original intention, the sonata is anything but easy and, with its synthesis of polyphonic and gallant style, demands an experienced pianist.

construction

1st movement: Allegro

A distinctive hunting fanfare opens the main movement of the sonata in unison (Allegro, 6/8) and at the same time forms its first theme , a typical triad motif with a suffix that is decorated with a trill , before being led to E minor in bar 5 . In the first repetition of the theme in the lower part, a counterpoint is added to the upper part and allows the broken chord to transition into a sixteenth-note movement. From this, Mozart develops a canon from bar 28 , which increases with a delay of an eighth note. The fast runs of the intermediate figures shape the further development and lead to the late-sounding, short and lyrical secondary theme in A major from bar 42.

In the onset of stroke 59 in Moll relatively short implementation Mozart processes the memorable hunting scene canonically and lets the second theme resonate fleetingly.

The waltz in the remote F sharp major, briefly indicated in the exposition (bar 40), appears as a harmonic climax . About a fifth case modulation Mozart conducts the reprise one in which the secondary theme in D major appears. The rapid transition and the dissonant inserts of the alternating hands in bars 112 and 113, however, make one think of a sham. The performance-like episode from bar 108 is reminiscent of Bach's inventions with its imitations and sixteenth-note passages .

Very early and unlike in the exposition, the second theme in D major follows in bar 122, which is no longer torn off early and merges into sixteenths, but as a regular eight-bar (up to bar 129) can exhaust its vocal potential. The diminished seventh chord in bar 152 is surprising as the dramatic climax of the recapitulation, which is only followed by a short final group.

2nd movement: Adagio

The second, slow movement (Adagio, 2/4) is in three parts. Between the 16 bars of the vocal opening section, the main theme of which is resumed from bar 44, there is an intimate middle section beginning in F sharp minor . It includes a painful parlando over repetitive sixteenth notes on the left (bars 17-22), a kind of peasant dance in D major (bars 24-27) and finally passages that are divided between both hands and lead into the parlando in bar 32. The mood of the dance that starts again is clouded by the F sharp minor. A coda from bar 59 rounds off the second movement.

With its chromatic , partly improvisational-looking episodes and modulations, the diminished chords and the interlude in F sharp minor, it is reminiscent of the lyrical clarinet quintet KV 581.

3rd movement: Allegretto

The final (Allegretto, 2/4) is an exuberant rondo with two couplets and the ABACBA form scheme. It works with canonical imitations and fluctuates in its attitude between the virtuosity and polyphony of the first movement and the homophony of the second movement, to which it is thematically linked. The movement begins in a technically simple manner, but when the eight-bar theme is repeated, it turns into virtuoso with the descending triplet movement of the left hand and the following sweeping chord breaks.

background

In 1789 Mozart had visited the Berlin court and hoped to get new composition commissions or even his own job. He wanted to compose six string quartets for the king, who played the cello, and a few sonatinas for his daughter . It is often assumed that of these sonatinas, the D major sonata K. 576 is the only one actually composed. But since it is one of Mozart's “most demanding piano works” , this assumption has been questioned in recent research. "You have to accept that we don't know anything about the reason why this sonata was created [...]."

literature

  • Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Sonata in D major KV 576. In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Bärenreiter / Metzler, Stuttgart / Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-476-02077-0 , pp. 531-533.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ So Otto Schumann: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In: Handbook of Piano Music. Heinrichshofen´s Verlag, Wilhelmshaven 1979, p. 193.
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata in D major, KV 576. In: Harenberg piano music guide, 600 works from the baroque to the present. Meyers, Mannheim 2004, p. 594.
  3. ^ Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Sonata in D major KV 576. In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Bärenreiter / Metzler, Stuttgart / Kassel 2005, p. 531.
  4. ^ Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Sonata in D major KV 576. In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Bärenreiter / Metzler, Stuttgart / Kassel 2005, p. 532.
  5. ^ Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Sonata in D major KV 576. In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Bärenreiter / Metzler, Stuttgart / Kassel 2005, p. 532.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata in D major, KV 576. In: Harenberg piano music guide, 600 works from the baroque to the present. Meyers, Mannheim 2004, p. 594.
  7. ^ Marie-Agnes Dittrich: Sonata in D major KV 576. In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Bärenreiter / Metzler, Stuttgart / Kassel 2005, p. 533.
  8. ^ Wolfgang Plath, Wolfgang Rehm In: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, New edition of all works. Series IX: Piano Music, Work Group 25: Piano Sonatas Volume 2, S. XX.
  9. ^ Wolfgang Plath, Wolfgang Rehm In: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, New edition of all works. Series IX: Piano Music, Work Group 25: Piano Sonatas Volume 2, S. XX.