Mozart's Piano Concertos

Mozart's move to Vienna fromSalzburg in 1781 heralds musical developments and reflects social changes. On 9May 1781, he wrote to his father I am no longer so unfortunate as to become inSalzburg support (Mersmann 1938: 161): he had been frustrated by the limitedopportunities of his career at court. The joy of leaving Salzburg forVienna seems to obtain been musically inspiring, as well as the following few many years wereprolific, not least from the composition of piano concertos: Mozart wrote 12between 1784 and 1786.

 

The influence of J C Bach on Mozartwas significant. The two had met in London in 1764, after Mozart was nonetheless aboy. In 1772, Mozart made his first 3 piano concertos by rearrangingthree of J C Bach's sonatas. Beyond the concerto structure, the detail ofMozart's music suggests Bach's influence. His subtle ornamentation and cleveruse of suspensions and ambiguities of tonality also characterises J C Bach'swork.

 

Mozart's use of keys isparticularly innovative: in the very first movement with the A major Piano ConcertoK488, the development section incorporates a passage of dialogue between thewinds along with a bigger grouping of piano and strings, modulating through E minor atbar 156, C major at bar 160, A minor at bar 164 after which via F major at bar166 to D minor at bar 168. The far more obvious, related tonalities for your jobs in Amajor would be D and E major, the subdominant and dominant keys, and F# minor,the relative minor key. This type of harmonic device gives a strong sense ofdeparture from the safety and stability from the property key, generating its eventualreturn inside the recapitulation stronger and more satisfying.

 

This passage also shows examples ofMozart's innovative orchestration: the modest group-large group contrast ofearlier concertos becomes a three-way interchange, with piano, winds andstrings forming 3 groups that are united and contrasted in a variety ofcombinations.

Conclusion

 

Mozart's innovations took thekeyboard concerto to a brand new level, and give some indication of why the formbecame so well-liked with composers and the public.

 

For the composer, working patternswere changing, away inside the usually creatively restrictive nature of patronageto an environment of additional freedom, with composers having a lot more control ofperformances as events - J C Bach is often a specifically great instance of this. Withmany composers also becoming gifted performers, who could attract audiences by wayof their virtuosity, the concerto accessible scope to write exciting, challengingpassages inside context of a major work, giving their performances realimpact.

 

Yet the economic reality was thatincome depended on the accomplishment of concerts and also the capacity to please a fickle audience.Mozart was clearly aware from the need to please a range of Viennese listeners,writing of his Three concertos written to your 1782-3 season:

 

There are passages right here and there from whichconnoisseurs alone can derive satisfaction, but they are written so that thenon-connoisseurs cannot fail being pleased even if they don't know why.(Quoted by Steinberg 1998: 279)

 

Taking the over into account, itis absolutely not insignificant that Mozart's piano concertos are, 200 years aftertheir composition, enjoyed by a large audience and also highly regarded as bymusicologists.

 

The development with the keyboardconcerto from the 18th century demonstrates how changes inside sociallandscape and innovations in instrument technology planted the seeds of avibrant music industry. This helped set up the piano concerto to become anindispensable ingredient from the concert hall plus a contributing factor in thephenomenon on the virtuoso inside the 19th century and beyond.

 

 

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