Piano Concerto No. 23 (Mozart)

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Piano Concerto in A major
No. 23
by W. A. Mozart
Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 23 - Opening Page of the Autograph Manuscript.png
The opening page of the autograph manuscript
Key A major
Catalogue K. 488
Genre Concerto
Style Classical period
Composed1786 (1786)
Published1800 (1800)
MovementsAllegro, Adagio, Allegro assai
Scoring
  • Piano
  • orchestra

The Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major K. 488 is a concerto for piano and orchestra written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was finished, according to Mozart's own catalogue, on March 2, 1786, two months prior to the premiere of his opera, Le nozze di Figaro , and some three weeks prior to the completion of his next piano concerto. It was one of three subscription concerts given that spring and was probably played by Mozart himself at one of these.

Contents

The concerto is scored for piano solo and an orchestra consisting of one flute, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns and strings.

Structure

The piano concerto has three movements and typically lasts for about 26 minutes:

  1. Allegro in A major and common time
  2. Adagio in F minor and 6
    8
    time
  3. Allegro assai in A major and alla breve, rondo form

The first movement is in A major and is in sonata form. The piece begins with a double exposition, the first played by the orchestra, and the second when the piano joins in. The first exposition is static from a tonal point of view and is quite concise, the third theme is not yet revealed. The second exposition includes the soloist and is modulatory. It also includes the previously unheard third theme. The second exposition is ornamented as opposed to the first exposition which is not. The second theme has harmonic tension. This is expressed by dissonances that are played on the beat, and then solved by an interval of a descending second. This is also expressed in the use of chromatics in the melody and bass lines which is a source of harmonic tension, as the listeners anticipate the arrival of the tonic.

The slow second movement, in ternary form, is somewhat operatic in tone. The piano begins alone with a theme in Siciliano rhythm characterized by unusually wide leaps. This is the only movement by Mozart in F minor. [1] The dynamics are soft throughout most of the piece. The middle of the movement contains a brighter section in A major announced by flute and clarinet that Mozart would later use to introduce the trio "Ah! taci ingiusto core!" in his 1787 opera Don Giovanni . [2]

The third movement is a sonata-rondo. It is shaded by moves into other keys as is the opening movement (to C major from E minor and back during the secondary theme in this case, for instance) and with a central section whose opening in F-sharp minor is interrupted by a clarinet tune in D major, an intrusion that, according to Girdlestone, reminds one that instrumental music at the time was informed by opera buffa and its sudden changes of point of view as well as of scene. [3]

Reception

Carl Reinecke did not mention arpeggiation or rubato in his 1891 book about the revival of Mozart's piano concertos. [4] But Neal Peres Da Costa described Reinecke's performance practice of delaying melodic notes, especially ones marked portato , in his c. 1905 Hupfeld piano roll recording of his own solo piano arrangement of the K. 488 slow movement. [5] Peres Da Costa further noted that Louis Adam advised portato be "made with a little retard on the note" and that Francesco Pollini described the same practice as "contribut[ing] not a little to the expression" (as Pietro Lichtenthal  [ de ] reproduced in his dictionary). [6]

Related Research Articles

Sonata form is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th century.

Sonata rondo form is a musical form often used during the Classical and Romantic music eras. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata and rondo forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven)</span> Work by Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 is generally thought to have been composed in 1800, although the year of its composition has been questioned by some contemporary musicologists. It was first performed on 5 April 1803, with the composer as soloist. During that same performance, the Second Symphony and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives were also premiered. The composition was published in 1804, and was dedicated to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. The first primary theme is reminiscent of that of Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 20 (Mozart)</span> Concertante work by Mozart

The Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1785. The first performance took place at the Mehlgrube Casino in Vienna on 11 February 1785, with the composer as the soloist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarinet Concerto (Mozart)</span> Musical composition by Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, was completed in October 1791 for the clarinettist Anton Stadler. It consists of three movements, in a fast–slow–fast succession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 21 (Mozart)</span>

The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, was completed on 9 March 1785 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, four weeks after the completion of the previous D minor concerto, K. 466.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 2 (Beethoven)</span>

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19, by Ludwig van Beethoven was composed primarily between 1787 and 1789, although it did not attain the form in which it was published until 1795. Beethoven did write a second finale for it in 1798 for performance in Prague, but that is not the finale that was published. It was used by the composer as a vehicle for his own performances as a young virtuoso, initially intended with the Bonn Hofkapelle. It was published in December 1801 as Op. 19, later than the publication in March that year of his later composition the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major as Op. 15, and thus became designated as his second piano concerto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 1 (Beethoven)</span>

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, was written in 1795, then revised in 1800. It was possibly first performed by Beethoven at his first public concert in Vienna on 29 March 1795. It was first published in 1801 in Vienna with dedication to his pupil Princess Anna Louise Barbara Odescalchi, known to her friends as "Babette".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart)</span> Concertante work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, is a concerto composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for keyboard and orchestra. Mozart composed the concerto in the winter of 1785–1786, finishing it on 24 March 1786, three weeks after completing his Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major. As he intended to perform the work himself, Mozart did not write out the soloist's part in full. The premiere was in early April 1786 at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Chronologically, the work is the twentieth of Mozart's 23 original piano concertos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 9 (Mozart)</span>

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E major, K. 271, known as the Jeunehomme or Jenamy concerto was written in Salzburg in 1777 when the composer was 21 years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 12 (Mozart)</span>

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414 (385p), was written in the autumn of 1782 in Vienna. It is scored for solo piano, two oboes, two bassoons (optional), two horns, and strings. Like all three of the early Vienna concertos that Mozart wrote, it is a modest work that can be performed with only string quartet and keyboard. As per 18th century performance practice a string orchestra could also have served as a suitable option for the "quattro" accompaniment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 7 (Mozart)</span>

In 1776, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed three piano concertos, one of which was the Concerto for three pianos and orchestra in F major, No. 7, K. 242. He originally finished it in February 1776 for three pianos; however, when he eventually recomposed it for himself and another pianist in 1780 in Salzburg, he rearranged it for two pianos, and that is how the piece is often performed today. The concerto is often nicknamed "Lodron" because it was commissioned by Countess Antonia Lodron to be played with her two daughters Aloysia and Giuseppa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 25 (Mozart)</span> Work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503, was completed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on December 4, 1786, alongside the Prague Symphony, K. 504. Although two more concertos would later follow, this work is the last of what are considered the twelve great piano concertos written in Vienna between 1784 and 1786. Chronologically the work is the 21st of Mozart's 23 original piano concertos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 22 (Mozart)</span>

The Piano Concerto No. 22 in E major, K. 482, is a work for piano, or fortepiano, and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composed in December 1785.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 19 (Mozart)</span>

The Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, K. 459 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was written at the end of 1784: Mozart's own catalogue of works records that it was completed on 11 December. It is occasionally known as the "second coronation concerto" on account of Mozart playing it on the occasion of the coronation of Leopold II in Frankfurt am Main in October 1790. The autograph is held by the Berlin State Library. The first edition was produced by Johann André of Offenbach in 1794, and Breitkopf & Härtel produced an edition in 1800. Like most of Mozart's concertos it is in three movements:

  1. Allegro
  2. Andante Un Poco Allegretto6
    8
    in C major
  3. Allegro assai2
    4
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</span>

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's concertos for piano and orchestra are numbered from 1 to 27. The first four numbered concertos and three unnumbered concertos are early works that are arrangements of keyboard sonatas by various contemporary composers. Concertos 7 and 10 are compositions for three and two pianos respectively. The remaining twenty-one are original compositions for solo piano and orchestra. These works, many of which Mozart composed for himself to play in the Vienna concert series of 1784–86, held special importance for him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra (Mozart)</span> Composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C major, K. 299/297c, is a concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for flute, harp, and orchestra. It is one of only two true double concertos that he wrote, as well as the only piece of music by Mozart for the harp. The piece is one of the most popular such concertos in the repertoire, as well as often being found on recordings dedicated to either one of its featured instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 14 (Mozart)</span> Concertante work by Mozart

The Piano Concerto No. 14 in E major, K. 449, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was written in 1784.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 10 (Mozart)</span>

It is not known when Mozart completed his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in E-flat major, K. 365/316a, but research by Alan Tyson shows that cadenzas for the first and third movements are written in his and his father's handwriting on a type of paper used between August 1775 and January 1777. However, most sources, including Alan Tyson's book Mozart: Studies of the Autograph Scores or more recently Lindeman's The Concerto: A Research and Information Guide (2006) indicate that it was composed in 1779. It is presumed that Mozart wrote it to play with his sister Maria Anna ("Nannerl"). Years later he performed it in a private concert with pupil Josepha Barbara Auernhammer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concerto for Piano, Violin and Strings (Mendelssohn)</span> 1823 composition by Felix Mendelssohn

The Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Strings in D minor, MWV O4, also known as the Double Concerto in D minor, was written in 1823 by Felix Mendelssohn when he was 14 years old. This piece is Mendelssohn's fourth work for a solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment, preceded by a Largo and Allegro in D minor for Piano and Strings MWV O1, the Piano Concerto in A Minor MWV O2, and the Violin Concerto in D minor MWV O3. Mendelssohn composed the work to be performed for a private concert on May 25, 1823 at the Mendelssohn home in Berlin with his violin teacher and friend, Eduard Rietz. Following this private performance, Mendelssohn revised the scoring, adding winds and timpani and is possibly the first work in which Mendelssohn used winds and timpani in a large work. A public performance was given on July 3, 1823 at the Berlin Schauspielhaus. Like the A minor piano concerto (1822), it remained unpublished during Mendelssohn's lifetime and it wasn't until 1999 when a critical edition of the piece was available.

References

  1. Hopkins, Antony, Talking About Concertos, p. 30, London (1964) ISBN   978-0-435-81420-5
  2. Girdlestone, Cuthbert Morton (1964). Mozart and His Piano Concertos (2nd ed.). New York City: Dover. pp. 375–376. ISBN   0-486-21271-8.
  3. Girdlestone, pp. 384–386.
  4. Peres Da Costa 2012, 87.
  5. Peres Da Costa 2012, 84–88.
  6. Peres Da Costa 2012, 70–71, 86.

Bibliography