Analysis of W. A. Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A Major, K. 331: First Movement Classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart in 1756 in Salzburg, Austria (then the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation). Mozart showed promise in music from an early age, prompting his father to assume the role as his instructor. His father described his son as a gift from God, and Leopold nurtured Wolfgang’s talents as such. Mozart would eventually travel throughout Europe with his musical family; however, it was in Salzburg that he would compose three piano sonatas in 1783. These pieces were most likely composed for Mozart’s pupils in Vienna, who were a significant source of income for him at the time. This paper …show more content…
Fig. 1: First Movement, mm. 1-18. The tender melody Mozart presents in these first 18 bars is simple, with a lot of stepwise motion and small leaps. Adhering to classical style, he uses chords built on diatonic pitches and resolves dissonances quickly. Pairing a simple homophonic melody with simple accompaniment makes it easier to manipulate the theme in the coming variations. In Fig. 1, you’ll notice that the middle voice barely moves at all. In fact, it isn’t until measure 9 that we start seeing strong beats without an E in them. Also, the long-short (quarter-eighth/dotted eighth-sixteenth) motive remains constant until it too develops at measure 9. All of these techniques for a simple theme help Mozart develop his idea later. In the first variation, Mozart agitates the theme with the use of chromatic approaches and chromatic passing tones. Between the left and right hands, we hear an unrelenting series of sixteenth notes. Mozart also incorporates more use of dynamics than he did in the theme, by composing contrasting piano and forte sections. This drastic dynamic change happens in the A section of the variation. In variation II, another insistent figure is introduced: this time, triplet sixteenth notes. The melody in the right hand starts out very ornamented. Mozart then puts each melody note at the start of a flowing downward triplet arpeggio. The left hand emphasizes the strong beat throughout these triplets, and then the melody returns in the original
The symphony has three different textures: monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic. Similar to the Tabuh Pisan piece, there is a monophonic texture in playing the melody. Listening to only the single melody line enables the audience to engrave the melody in their heads without the adornment of an accompaniment line. By using this texture, Beethoven introduces the first melody line the rest of the movement varied off on. Overall, texture changes, homophonic texture, polyphonic texture and monophonic texture, are used to accentuate the technique of theme variation throughout the movement. The polyphonic texture is shown through the fugal melody in measures 117-174. The same melody is played in different parts at different times, which causes the melody to overlap, creating two melodies that are played at the same time. Below is an example of the fugal subject, or melody, played by different parts.
In the second movement, the percussion section is more noticeable, especially at the beginning. This movement is also in D minor. The range of the melodic tune is dramatic. At times, I recognized the downbeat in three measures (da da da). This
In classical music, the structures emphasize more the grace of proportion and balance, moderation and control; polished and elegance in character with expressiveness and formal structure held in perfect balance. Furthermore, the forms do not vary as much as the Romantic era, they had forms like sonatas, symphonies etc. The melodic phrases are usually balanced and symmetrical made up of two phrases of the same length. For an example, in Mozart's Clarinet Quintet, the music is very symmetrical and well balanced, in a variation form. However, in Romantic music, they rather emphasize on the emotional content than trying to sound balanced and symmetrical, and expanded their use of forms and created new forms, like impromptu, ballade, etude, nocturnes etc,. Moreover, the melodies normally have either really long or short phrases, increased in range, but also increased in chromaticism. For example in Mahler's symphony no.1 in D major "Titan", we can see that except it is in a ABA form, the whole movement was not as symmetrical and well balanced as the Mozart, although it is in a variation form, the melodic phrases have increased in range, are either really long, for example in the first 18 bars, or really short, where the melody can be hardly seen in bar 134-137.
Broadly speaking, the first movement can be divided in to three pieces, each beginning with a version of what I have denoted A_0, the introduction to the piece inwhich motifs float around in a constant void, gaining energy, and morphing into musicalthemes. If we were to impose the sonata structure onto the piece, we would say that the three pieces are the exposition, development, and recapitulation. The exposition introduces two large thematic blocks separated by a transition that
Even though the two pieces were composed in different centuries – Mozart’s piece in the 18th century and Strauss’ piece in the 20th century – some of the musical elements that they share transcend both time periods. The characteristics of music in the classical period had to do with the new view of human psychology. Mozart was one to introduce contrasting moods within movements or even within a theme. He was able to infuse strong contrasts of moods within the style of his music (Burkholder, Grout, & Palisca 475). In Figaro, Mozart includes an overture which is a piece in sonata form despite its lack of a development section. In Act I cavatina, “Se vuol ballare”, Mozart whimsically makes changes to the character of his music so as to correspond to Figaro’s machinations (Hambrik n.p). By doing so, he musically
Then a gradual increase of animation forced the theme all the way up to the vigorous cadence. The recapitulation of themes followed an agitation and restlessness which led to a new and stormy climax which in turn gave way to blander harmonies and quiet rhythms. The first movement ends to the first theme in quiet feeling.
Mozart really makes his nervousness obvious by giving him notes no longer in value than a quarter note. Mozart uses dotted eights to sixteenth notes to make his part especially disjointed. This creates the effect of someone shaking from fear as they are trying to speak. Mozart also uses a continuous triple pattern, which begins at measure 470, to create a rambling effect. Leporello seems to have lost his sanity from fright of the statue, and is now babbling incoherently.
The development starts very similarly to the exposition with the first violin part once again playing the sunrise theme with the only differences being the distribution of the motifs ‘x’ and ‘y’ (The opening sunrise theme of the exposition was in the order of motif ‘y-x-x’ then ‘x-x-y’ compared to the opening
The 2nd movement of the Mozart k310 Piano Sonata resembles standard sonata form in many ways. It opens with a first theme in F (same as key signature). The theme is four bars long; two bars of antecedant, two bars of consequent. Mozart then starts the first theme again with a 32nd note run pick-up instead of the 16th note arpeggio pick-up in the the begginning of the piece so we are prepared for variation in the second statement of the first theme. He then continues the theme with variation until the consequent phrase which is completely different from the first consequent phrase. This new consequent has not only faster rythmic movement but also compressed harmonic rythym. This tension
The rest of the orchestra enters; the high woodwinds take the fugue theme while the lower instruments emphasize each downbeat with familiar chordal movement. The fugue enters the development section and twists through a variety of major and minor tonalities. Mozart delays the recapitulation by inserting three Adagio major chords repeated three times. Now the ‘magic number’ is made blatantly apparent. The second Allegro opens, in Bb this time, and the anticipation build as Mozart introduces dramatic dynamic contrast and contrapuntal texture. The overture ends in its original key, with three pronounced Eb major chords accentuating the triumphant conclusion.
The first movement of Mozart’s piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major is written fairly typically in the very structured sonata form. Historically is follows the main guidelines that were understood for the form. Harmonically, is progresses like expected. There are a few surprises here and there, but they are typical for Mozart’s compositions, especially his sonatas of the 18th century. In all, it makes a very interesting piece of work, especially with so much contrast within it.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven are two of the greatest composers ever to write music. Both men lived in the early 18th and 19th century, but their music and influences are still felt today. The men faced similar experiences, yet they both lead very different lives. All together the pieces that these men composed amounts to over 300 published, and unpublished works of art. The people of their time period often had mixed feelings about these men, some “complained that Mozart’s music presented them with too many ideas and that his melodies moved from one to the next faster than audiences could follow, yet the ideas themselves seem effortless and natural, clear and
The sonata begins softly but with unmistakable energy. The trill like sixteenth notes on the third beat of this motif surge the piece forward into the next bar. The two bar motif appears again, and is then varied and
and another lyrical theme, (denoted hereafter by b). It is clear when one looks at the outline of the themes with respect to their placement, theme "a" is transformed into 8 different versions throughout the composition's first movement, and an additional type, that we will call (a) which utilizes C-G-C-G-C timpani-like motive. This one, namely (a) and a derivative called a6 will play primary roles in identifying and linking structurally important keys and harmonic motions related to changes into different subsections (eg. Timpani theme appears from 288-295 into T3/S3 on minor v,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is said to be the greatest genius in western music history. Wolfgang Amadeus was born in Salzburg, Austria January 27, 1756 his parents were Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria Pertl. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s father was a successful composer, violinist, and assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg court. The