Piano Concertos Nos.

1–4 (Mozart)
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Piano Concertos

Nos. 1–4

Arrangements of sonatas by other composers by W. A.

Mozart

The young composer in 1770

 F major
 B♭ major
Key
 D major
 G major

Catalogue K. 37, 39–41

Composed 1767

 Piano
Scoring  orchestra
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began his series of preserved piano concertos with four that he wrote
at the age of 11, in Salzburg: K. 37 and 39–41. The autographs, all held by the Jagiellonian
Library, Kraków, are dated by his father as having been completed in April (K. 37) and July (K.
39–41) of 1767. Although these works were long considered to be original, they are now known
to be orchestrations of sonatas by various German virtuosi. The works on which the concertos
are based were largely published in Paris, and presumably Mozart and his family became
acquainted with them or their composers during their visit to Paris in 1763–64.

By using movements from the sonatas of other composers, the young Mozart seems to have
begun to learn how to cope with the structural problems of composing in the piano concerto
form.[1] Indeed, it may be that Leopold Mozart had devised this as a compositional teaching
method. If so, it seems that this may have been the first time this had been done by the composer.
This is perhaps supported by two facts: First, Leopold excluded the first four concertos from his
1768 list, suggesting that he may not have considered them true compositions by his son.
Second, the autographs of the four works are the joint products of both Mozart and Leopold
(although K. 41 is mainly in Leopold's hand alone).[1]

Contents
 1 No. 1 (K. 37) in F major
 2 No. 2 (K. 39) in B♭ major
 3 No. 3 (K. 40) in D major
 4 No. 4 (K. 41) in G major
 5 Assessment
 6 References
 7 Sources
 8 External links

No. 1 (K. 37) in F major[edit]

The concerto is scored for strings, piano (or harpsichord) and pairs of oboes and horns. The three
movements are:

I. Allegro (4
4)

II. Andante (C major, 3

4)

III. Allegro (3
4)

The first movement is based on the initial allegro of the sonata for keyboard with violin
accompaniment (Op. 1, No. 5) by Hermann Friedrich Raupach, from a set of six published in
Paris in 1756. The provenance of the second movement is unknown, although Eric Blom, the
editor of the 5th edition of Grove's Dictionary (1954), suggested that it was in fact by Mozart.
The final movement is based on the first movement of the sonata, Op. 2, No. 3, by the
Strasbourg-based Leontzi Honauer.[2]

No. 2 (K. 39) in B♭ major[edit]

The concerto is scored for strings, piano (or harpsichord), and pairs of oboes and horns, as above.
The movements are:

I. Allegro spiritoso (4
4)

II. Andante (F Major, 4

4)

III. Molto allegro (2

4)

The first and third movements are again from Raupach (Op. 1, No. 1), whilst the slow movement
is based on the opening movement of Johann Schobert's Op. 17, No. 2, a composer admired by
Mozart.[2]

No. 3 (K. 40) in D major[edit]

The concerto is scored for strings, piano (or harpsichord), and pairs of horns, oboes and
trumpets. The movements are:

I. Allegro maestoso (4
4)

II. Andante (A Major, 2

4)

III. Presto (3
8)

The first movement is based on the initial movement of Honauer's Op. 2, No. 1. The second on
one by Johann Gottfried Eckard (op. 1, no. 4 ), the most famous keyboardist of his day. The third
movement is based on C. P. E. Bach's piece La Boehmer, published in the early 1760s. Mozart's
cadenzas for the concerto survive.[2]

No. 4 (K. 41) in G major[edit]

The concerto is scored for strings, piano (or harpsichord) and pairs of horns and flutes. The
movements are:

I. Allegro (3
4)
 II. Andante (G minor, 2
4)

III. Molto allegro (3

4)

As all the movements of this concerto are in either G Major or G Minor, the work is homotonal.
In only four other piano concerti by Mozart are the slow movement in a minor key (K. 271, K.
456, K. 482, and K. 488).

This concerto also opens in triple meter, an unusual feature of Mozart's 27 Piano Concerti; only
K. 41, K. 413, K. 491, and K. 449 open in triple meter.

The first and third movements are based on ones by Honauer (Op. 1, No. 1), and the middle one
on Raupach (Op. 1, No. 1).[2]

Assessment[edit]
By comparison to Mozart's later concertos or even to those of J. C. Bach, these are slight works.
The preludes that Mozart added to the sonatas do not contain a wealth of themes, as is typical for
his later efforts, nor does the exposition or middle section add new thematic material. The role of
the keyboard as soloist or continuo is not always clearly delineated. Nevertheless, some traces of
his later structures can be detected: for example, the relative sizes of the sections is
approximately similar, albeit on a smaller scale.

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to: a b Stanley Sadie (2008) "Mozart: The early years"
2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hermann Abert (2007) "W. A. Mozart"

Sources[edit]
 Hutchings, A. A Companion to Mozart's Piano Concertos, Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-816708-3
 Mozart, W. A. Piano Concertos Nos. 1-6 in full score. Dover Publications, New York.
ISBN 0-486-44191-1

External links[edit]

 Piano Concertos Nos. 1–4 (Mozart): Score in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
 Piano Concerto No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4: Scores at the International Music Score
Library Project (IMSLP)

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