Piano Concerto No. 14 (Mozart)
Encyclopedia
The Piano Concerto No. 14 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, written in 1784
is a piano concerto
in E-flat major catalogued with K.
449.
It is the first composition he entered into a notebook of his music he then kept for the next seven years, marking down main themes, dates of completion, and other important information. From this notebook we have the information that he finished the concerto on February 9.
In the same year in succession he wrote several concertos, and in a letter to his father that May, wrote of the 15th and 16th concertos (in B flat and in D, KV. 450 and 451) that he "could not choose between them" but that "the one in E flat does not belong at all to the same category. It is one of a quite peculiar kind...". It is regarded as being the first of the mature series of concertos Mozart wrote, and indeed, commentators such as Girdlestone
and Hutchings
valued it as one of the best, particularly as all three movements are of the highest standard.
:
Works written in 1784 include besides this concerto the six piano concertos 14-19, the Quintet in E flat for Piano and Winds
, along with several piano works - the Sonata in C Minor
noteworthy, one string quartet
(the "Hunt"), and several sets of orchestral dances also. Works by other composers known to Mozart from just around this time include the 80th symphony
(in D minor
) and the second cello concerto of Joseph Haydn
; Michael Haydn
had published two sets of quartets the year before (also the year of the two Mozart violin-viola duos which legend has it were produced to help that composer fulfil a commission, which Alfred Einstein regards as a dubious tale), and Carl Stamitz
and Ignaz Pleyel
each another set of six (Pleyel released a further set in 1784.) A Pleyel cello concerto (in C) was also released at some point between 1782-4 (Pleyel being a composer whose quartets, at least, Mozart rated highly.)
and twenty-fourth
open with a movement in 3/4. It is also traditional, in the tutti of a classical concerto, for there to be little key
adventuring. There are several reasons for this, but the upshot is that, the less this is true, the harder it becomes to distinguish the tutti from the opening of a classical-era symphony.
In this concerto, in the first movement, after the first phrase - which begins ambiguously, a unison E flat followed by a unison C, winding down and back up to a B flat - comes to a full cadence, there is an immediate modulation, through a fiery C minor
passage, into B flat major (over the chord of F major for a few bars to calm the nerves.) Here a possible second theme is heard, played by strings
, winds not coming in until its later strain (near the modulation back into E flat).
[ rondo] refrain and the three couplets... but on hearing it one's impression is that the refrain never leaves the stage".
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, written in 1784
1784 in music
-Events:*March - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gives the first performances of his Piano Concerto No. 15 at the Trattnerhof and Burgtheater in Vienna*April 29 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and violinist Regina Strinasacchi perform Mozart's Sonata in B flat for Violin and Keyboard for the first time, in the...
is a piano concerto
Piano concerto
A piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
in E-flat major catalogued with K.
Köchel-Verzeichnis
The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. It is abbreviated K or KV. For example, Mozart's Requiem in D minor was, according to Köchel's counting, the 626th piece Mozart composed....
449.
It is the first composition he entered into a notebook of his music he then kept for the next seven years, marking down main themes, dates of completion, and other important information. From this notebook we have the information that he finished the concerto on February 9.
In the same year in succession he wrote several concertos, and in a letter to his father that May, wrote of the 15th and 16th concertos (in B flat and in D, KV. 450 and 451) that he "could not choose between them" but that "the one in E flat does not belong at all to the same category. It is one of a quite peculiar kind...". It is regarded as being the first of the mature series of concertos Mozart wrote, and indeed, commentators such as Girdlestone
Cuthbert Girdlestone
Cuthbert Morton Girdlestone was a British musicologist and literary scholar. He was educated at Cambridge and the Sorbonne, and thereafter took up the chair in French in Armstrong College, later to be King's College in Newcastle in 1926, a position he held until 1960...
and Hutchings
Arthur Hutchings
Arthur James Bramwell Hutchings was professor of music at the University of Durham, England. He wrote extensively on topics as varied as nineteenth-century English church music, Schubert, Edmund Rubbra, and baroque concertos; but his most famous work was the Companion to Mozart's Piano Concertos,...
valued it as one of the best, particularly as all three movements are of the highest standard.
Movements
This concerto has three movementsMovement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
:
- Allegro vivace. (3/4 timeTime signatureThe time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
). - Andantino. (B flat majorB flat majorB major or B-flat major is a major scale based on B-flat, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats, B/E .Its relative minor is G minor, and its parallel minor is B minor....
and 2/4 time). - Allegro ma non troppo. (2/2 time).
Works written in 1784 include besides this concerto the six piano concertos 14-19, the Quintet in E flat for Piano and Winds
Quintet for Piano and Winds (Mozart)
The Quintet in E flat major for Piano and Winds, K. 452, was completed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on March 30, 1784 and premiered two days later at the Imperial and Royal National Court Theater in Vienna...
, along with several piano works - the Sonata in C Minor
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Mozart)
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed and completed in 1784, with the official date of completion recorded as October 14, 1784 in Mozart’s private catalogue of works. It was published in December of 1785 together with the Fantasy in C minor, K...
noteworthy, one string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
(the "Hunt"), and several sets of orchestral dances also. Works by other composers known to Mozart from just around this time include the 80th symphony
Symphony No. 80 (Haydn)
The Symphony No. 80 in D minor, Hoboken 1/80, is a symphony composed by Joseph Haydn in 1784 as part of a trio of symphonies that also included symphonies 79 and 81...
(in D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
) and the second cello concerto of Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
; Michael Haydn
Michael Haydn
Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn.-Life:...
had published two sets of quartets the year before (also the year of the two Mozart violin-viola duos which legend has it were produced to help that composer fulfil a commission, which Alfred Einstein regards as a dubious tale), and Carl Stamitz
Carl Stamitz
Karl Philipp Stamitz , who later changed his given name to Carl, was a German composer of partial Czech ancestry , and a violin, viola and viola d'amore virtuoso...
and Ignaz Pleyel
Ignaz Pleyel
Ignace Joseph Pleyel , ; was an Austrian-born French composer and piano builder of the Classical period.-Early years:...
each another set of six (Pleyel released a further set in 1784.) A Pleyel cello concerto (in C) was also released at some point between 1782-4 (Pleyel being a composer whose quartets, at least, Mozart rated highly.)
Allegro vivace
A 3/4 time signature was unusual for the opening movement of a piano concerto - of Mozart's piano concertos. Among them only this, the eleventhPiano Concerto No. 11 (Mozart)
Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 11 in F major, KV. 413 , was the second of the group of three early concertos he wrote whilst in Vienna, in the autumn of 1782 . It was the first full concerto he wrote for the subscription concerts he gave in the city...
and twenty-fourth
Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart)
The Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491 is a concertante work for piano, or pianoforte, and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart composed the concerto in the winter of 1785–1786 and completed the work on 24 March 1786...
open with a movement in 3/4. It is also traditional, in the tutti of a classical concerto, for there to be little key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
adventuring. There are several reasons for this, but the upshot is that, the less this is true, the harder it becomes to distinguish the tutti from the opening of a classical-era symphony.
In this concerto, in the first movement, after the first phrase - which begins ambiguously, a unison E flat followed by a unison C, winding down and back up to a B flat - comes to a full cadence, there is an immediate modulation, through a fiery C minor
C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The harmonic minor raises the B to B. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with naturals and accidentals as necessary.Its key signature consists of three flats...
passage, into B flat major (over the chord of F major for a few bars to calm the nerves.) Here a possible second theme is heard, played by strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
, winds not coming in until its later strain (near the modulation back into E flat).