Piano Concerto in B-flat major | |
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No. 6 | |
by W. A. Mozart | |
Catalogue | K. 238 |
Style | Classical period |
Composed | 1776 |
Movements |
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Scoring |
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The Piano Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, K. 238, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in January 1776. His Concerto No. 7 (K. 242) for three pianos and his Concerto No. 8 (K. 246) in C major would follow within three months. The three works share what Cuthbert Girdlestone refers to as a galant style. [1]
The work is structured in three movements:
The work is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two French horns, solo piano, and strings. It is a lightly textured work from early in Mozart's career. The United States Library of Congress holds the autograph score. Mozart had intended to publish the score after he composed it, but it did not appear in print until after his death, in 1793. [2] He did, however, perform the work, in Munich in 1777, [3] and in Augsburg on 22 October 1777. His student Rose Cannabich performed the work in Mannheim on 13 February 1778. [2] Angela Hewitt observes that the first performances of the work were probably on a harpsichord rather than a fortepiano. [4]
The first movement, in sonata form, is marked Allegro aperto. "Aperto" literally means "open", an attribute often used in Mozart's early concertos, and while the exact meaning Mozart intended is unknown, it conveys "radiance and gaiety", as the pianist Angela Hewitt notes. [4] The development offers an episode of minor mode arpeggios and broken octaves in the piano, contrasted by "plaintive intervals" [4] of the oboe. It is in the development, and only there, that Girdlestone considers that the movement "gives us a glimpse of the true Mozart", as the recapitulation reprises the "well-bred, aristocratic good temper" of the movement's opening. [5] Mozart provided a short cadenza. [4]
In the second movement, in E-flat major and marked Andante un poco adagio, two flutes replace the oboes of the first movement. [4] The music is simple and gentle. Hewitt traces elements of the Andante in the Concerto in C major, K. 467: "the use of a triplet accompaniment, muted strings, and a pizzicato bass". [4] She notes a "marvellous effect of chiaroscuro" [4] by switching between major and minor keys, a technique adopted in many of his later works. [4]
In the final Rondeau, the oboes return instead of the flutes, but the horns receive prominence. Hewitt recalls, that Mozart asked his sister once to remind him "to give the horns something worthwhile to do". They contribute to the dance-like character of the movement. A section in G minor is called "the one really virtuoso page of the concerto, requiring some very nimble Baroque-style fingerwork". [4] Mozart wrote another short cadenza, with rests that still should be improvised by the soloist. [4]
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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.
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Piano Concerto No. 5 in D major, K. 175, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1773 at the age of 17. It is Mozart's first original piano concerto; his previous efforts were based on works by other composers. In 1782, he revised the score and composed a new rondo, adding a flute to the instrumentation.
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The Piano Concerto No. 8 in C major, K. 246, or Lützow Concert was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in April 1776 in the same year as the Haffner Serenade. Countess Antonia Lützow, 25 or 26 years old, second wife of Johann Nepomuk Gottfried Graf Lützow, the Commander of the Hohensalzburg Fortress, was a fine pianist. The solo work is not highly demanding, but it requires agility. Mozart played the concerto in Mannheim and Munich on October 4, 1777, and used it for teaching. Three different cadenzas have survived of varying difficulty, accommodating the abilities of performers from student level to professional: one for two pianos.
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.
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