Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in A major (Mozart)
Encyclopedia
The Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in A major, K. 386 is a concert rondo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, believed by Alfred Einstein to have been composed in late 1782.
, 12
and 13
.
It was once believed that Mozart left this piece unfinished, because when Constanze Mozart
sold the manuscript in 1799 to J. A. André, the concluding pages were missing. However, Alan Tyson
discovered the previously-missing conclusion in the British Library in 1980. Before this, the rest of the autograph had been dismembered and scattered, and the only known version that was complete was Cipriani Potter's piano arrangement from about 1838. Alfred Einstein, using this and only 2 then-known leaves of the score, published a reconstruction of the rondo in 1936, and further leaves that came to light were reflected in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
and a 1962 completion by Paul Badura-Skoda
and Charles Mackerras
. The final leaves discovered by Tyson have now been incorporated into most recent recordings of the rondo, such as those of Murray Perahia
and Malcolm Bilson
.
s have an independent line from the basses
. The first page of the manuscript was also titled and dated by Mozart, suggesting individuality.
, who play the piece's main theme. Again typical of the beginning of Mozart's piano and orchestral works, the piano only enters after about a minute of orchestral playing. It too plays the main theme, but in a very intimate and graceful manner. A second theme then follows, and mixes frivolous, playful elements with introspective, dreamier sections. The original theme then repeats, to be followed by another different melody. This melody is more imposing and serious than its precursors, until it wonderfully leads back into the original melody. The piece finishes with a coda
in true rondo form to give an A-B-A-C-A-D structure. The piece lasts between 8 and 10 minutes, depending on how it is completed.
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...
, believed by Alfred Einstein to have been composed in late 1782.
Composition
Mozart wrote the Rondo in A at around the same time as his three first Vienna piano concertos, nos. 11Piano 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...
, 12
Piano Concerto No. 12 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414 was written in the autumn of 1782 in Vienna. It is scored for solo piano, two oboes, two bassoons , two horns, and strings...
and 13
Piano Concerto No. 13 (Mozart)
The Piano Concerto No. 13 in C major, K. 415 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1782–83. It is the third of the first three full concertos Mozart composed for his subscription concerts.It consists of three movements:...
.
It was once believed that Mozart left this piece unfinished, because when Constanze Mozart
Constanze Mozart
Constanze Mozart was the wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-Early years:Constanze Weber was born in Zell im Wiesental. Her mother was Cäcilia Weber, née Stamm. Her father Fridolin Weber worked as a "double bass player, prompter and music copyist." Fridolin's half-brother was the father of composer...
sold the manuscript in 1799 to J. A. André, the concluding pages were missing. However, Alan Tyson
Alan Tyson
Alan Walker Tyson was a British musicologist who specialized in studies of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven...
discovered the previously-missing conclusion in the British Library in 1980. Before this, the rest of the autograph had been dismembered and scattered, and the only known version that was complete was Cipriani Potter's piano arrangement from about 1838. Alfred Einstein, using this and only 2 then-known leaves of the score, published a reconstruction of the rondo in 1936, and further leaves that came to light were reflected in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
The Neue Mozart-Ausgabe is the second complete works edition of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A longer and more formal title for the edition is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
and a 1962 completion by Paul Badura-Skoda
Paul Badura-Skoda
Paul Badura-Skoda is an Austrian pianist.He won first prize in the Austrian Music Competition in 1947. In 1949, he performed with distinguished conductors like Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan...
and Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
. The final leaves discovered by Tyson have now been incorporated into most recent recordings of the rondo, such as those of Murray Perahia
Murray Perahia
Murray Perahia KBE is an American concert pianist and conductor.-Early life:Murray Perahia was born in the Bronx borough of New York City to a family of Sephardi Jewish origin. According to the biography on his Mozart piano sonatas CD, his first language was Judaeo-Spanish or, Ladino. The family...
and Malcolm Bilson
Malcolm Bilson
Malcolm Bilson is an American pianist specializing in performance on the fortepiano, which is the 18th century version of the piano. Bilson is the Frederick J...
.
Possible Intentions
The musicologist Alfred Einstein believed that the piece was intended as either the original or a replacement finale for his Piano Concerto No. 12 in A. Both pieces are in the same key, and both were composed at similar times. However, there are considerable differences. The three concertos were composed by Mozart to be a quattro (with just four strings in accompaniment), whilst the Rondo cannot be, as the celloCello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
s have an independent line from the basses
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
. The first page of the manuscript was also titled and dated by Mozart, suggesting individuality.
Description
The Rondo is marked allegretto, giving the piece a lively but unhurried feel. The piece is begun, as with much of Mozart's concerto work, by the stringsString 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...
, who play the piece's main theme. Again typical of the beginning of Mozart's piano and orchestral works, the piano only enters after about a minute of orchestral playing. It too plays the main theme, but in a very intimate and graceful manner. A second theme then follows, and mixes frivolous, playful elements with introspective, dreamier sections. The original theme then repeats, to be followed by another different melody. This melody is more imposing and serious than its precursors, until it wonderfully leads back into the original melody. The piece finishes with a coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
in true rondo form to give an A-B-A-C-A-D structure. The piece lasts between 8 and 10 minutes, depending on how it is completed.