Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 06/09/2010, uploaded on 12/21/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

I. Tema (Andante grazioso) con variazioni; II. Menuetto; III. Alla turca (Allegretto)

The Sonata in A is the second of three sonatas likely to have been composed during 1783, perhaps during the period Mozart and his wife Constanze spent in Salzburg in the summer months of that year. This was the occasion on which the composer introduced his new bride to his father Leopold. They were almost certainly composed with his Viennese pupils in mind, as teaching formed one of Mozart's principal sources of income during his early years in the Austrian capital.

The sonata on today's program has gained particular fame for its last movement, the "Rondo alla turca." That movement took its inspiration from the popularity of quasi-Turkish music in Vienna, a fashionable form already exploited by Mozart in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) of the previous year. The Rondo includes a march-like B section with rolled block chords that evoke the drums of the Turkish Janissary bands.

Piano Sonata No. 9 in D major, K. 311      W.A. Mozart

Energetic and jovial, the Piano Sonata in D major, K. 311 shows Mozart as a youthful developing composer. Composed around the time of his visit to Mannheim in 1777, it also makes use of the style unique to the city. Opening with a flourish, the first movement seems at first to struggle to get underway but then suddenly bursts into a run of brilliant sixteenth notes. Lyricism takes over in the latter half of the second theme, but even it is accompanied by undulating sixteenth notes full of energy. This liveliness persists nearly unabated for the remainder of the movement.

The middle movement, a short sonatina (sonata form without development), is a tender Andante in G major. Two lyrical themes are presented in the tonic and dominant keys, as is expected, and then immediately recapped in the tonic. A final embellished statement of the first melody concludes the movement. The finale is a rondo and returns to the vigor of the opening Allegro. Once again, the energy of the movement is maintained through ample use of sixteenth notes (though this time in compound meter). A brief cadenza, first in an Andante, then an Adagio tempo, announces the final statement of the rondo's main theme. Finally, the sonata comes to a close with a flourish of full chords.    Joseph DuBose

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.