EDEXCEL ANALYSES FOR ADVANCED LEVEL MUSIC
MOZART PIANO SONATA IN B-FLAT K333 FIRST MOVEMENT
MusicTeachers.co.uk presents the third in a series of analyses covering the set A level extracts.

Mozart: Piano Sonata in B-flat K333, first movement.

Background

There are eighteen surviving sonatas for solo piano by Mozart; a further four have been lost. Considering that Mozart was one of the most famous keyboard virtuosi of his time, it might seem strange that, in comparison with his symphonies, he should write relatively few such works. Part of the reason lies in his renowned ability as an improviser, a skill that was a prerequisite amongst keyboard players at that time (for example, it is worth reading commentaries concerning Bach's abilities in improvisation - see The New Bach Reader, WW Norton and Co). Since many composers wrote music for personal performance, there was less need to write down compositions - instead the composer, plucking music from his subconscious, could dazzle audiences. It seems, therefore, that for Mozart the process of formally writing down sonatas was for practical reasons, such as teaching and publication. In a letter written in October 1777, Mozart provides an insight into his abilities as an improviser: commenting on a performance he had given two days previously, he writes of how he 'played…all of a sudden a magnificent sonata in C major, out of my head, with a rondo at the end - full of din and sound'. Its outer movements became the sonata K309.

The Sonata in B-flat major K333 was thought initially to have been composed in 1779, but later scholars have dated the work a year earlier. However, studies by Alan Tyson on Mozart's handwriting and the paper he used have suggested a later date of 1783. It is an interesting sonata in that, despite sounding truly Mozartean, the influence of Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) is clearly perceivable: they met on two occasions, in London in 1764 (where Bach was one of the leading figures of musical life) and again in Paris in 1778. Mozart's respect for JC Bach was deeply held, and his death in 1782 came as a sad blow. Bach spent time in Germany and Italy before settling in England, and the influence of his travels is clearly seen in a musical language that consists of solid German technique enhanced by Italian grace and melody. The latter is typical of the galant style that emerged during the early eighteenth century, of which Bach was an exponent. In a letter of 1778, Mozart's father Leopold encouraged his son to write in Bach's 'natural, flowing and easy style' and the admiration of Mozart is evident by his quoting of several Bach themes in his works. It is precisely this 'flowing and easy style' of a primarily melodic nature that can be found in K333. Furthermore, there is a remarkable similarity between the opening motif of K333 and those of JC Bach's piano sonatas Op.5 no.3 and Op.17 no.4.

Also worthy of note is the influence of the concerto. This can be seen most explicitly in the last movement, which includes a cadenza near its end. This is complemented by the way in which Mozart's textures seem to imitate the concertante techniques of a concerto. In the first movement the brilliance of the extended passing 6/4 (Ic-V-I) cadences at bars 57-58 and, more importantly, 159-160, clearly allude to the grander, more extrovert style of concerto forms.

The sonata is a typical example of the genre; the first movement is in a text-book sonata form. Where the galant style placed more emphasis on melodic interest, the Classical style of Mozart and Haydn used themes more as functions of tonality in the creation of musical structures. The basic principle of sonata form rests in the contrast and unification of two keys (traditionally the tonic and dominant). The keys are presented in the exposition, where they are introduced by two themes known as the first and second subjects (although in some works, especially those by Haydn, only one principal theme can be found; these works are known as monothematic). Once the second key has been firmly established, the tonality is destabilised in the development section. Here the motivic material from the exposition is broken into its component parts, which are subjected to musical scrutiny and metamorphosis; this is usually associated with the exploration and transient use of other keys. The development section ends with a return to the tonic key for the recapitulation, often heralded by a dominant pedal. Here the exposition material is restated without the shift of key that characterised the exposition, thus harmonically unifying what was previously contrasting material.

This model can be found, hardly surprisingly, in varied forms throughout the repertoire of Classical music; composers did not consider it to be a set of rules to compose by, but more a general principle on which they could base their work. However K333 adheres to the general model of sonata form extremely well, as is demonstrated in the following: