Mozart sonatas

Originally Posted by J. Lee Graham

Yeah, there is an amazing contrast between the Stein instruments Beethoven played early in his career and the much larger instruments he was playing toward the end of his life. My favourite recording of his 1st and 2nd Piano Concerti is on a light and airy little 5-octave Viennese; hard to believe, but the sound is a revelation.

I read somewhere that Mozart liked Stein instruments very much, but owned a Walther because Steins were too expensive. Wonder if that's true.

Yes! I have the 5 concerti on period instruments with the Academy of Ancient Music - is that what you've got?
*Period instrument nerds*
The sound is really surprising. The Emperor sounds totally different - remember it was written about 1808, when the pianos were still relatively small.

By the way, (not directed at Lee) the name is fortepiano. Pianoforte is the name for our pianos today. OK, so maybe in France they called it pianoforte, and Mozart even used the name once or twice.... but the proper name is fortepiano.

Also, Lee, yea, Mozart raves about the Steins in his letters.

Yes! I have the 5 concerti on period instruments with the Academy of Ancient Music - is that what you've got?

The very same! There are some great performances on that record. I probably should have mentioned the other 3 concerti, but the first two really hit me where I live. I guess they're representative of Beethoven before he got, well...so very, very Beethoveny. Not saying there's anything wrong with that...but the Rondo of the 2nd Concerto is perhaps the most perfectly balanced Classical rondo I know of. I can't quit analyzing it, having found a good rondo movement a challenge to compose most of my life.

Originally Posted by Daniel

By the way, (not directed at Lee) the name is fortepiano. Pianoforte is the name for our pianos today. OK, so maybe in France they called it pianoforte, and Mozart even used the name once or twice.... but the proper name is fortepiano.

I know your comment was probably aimed at people who were using the word 'pianoforte' to mean 'some period instrument different to normal piano', but....

It's intriguing that the words 'fortepiano' and 'pianoforte' were, in fact, used interchangeably for a very long time throughout Europe. Christofori originally called his instrument a 'gravecembalo col piano e forte', and most subsequent references to the instrument simply call it a 'Pian' et fort'. Over time, presumably because it's easier to say, the word is sometimes seen as 'forte et piano' or 'fortepiano'. In English, while the word 'pianoforte' crops up as early as 1741, 'fortepiano' doesn't appear (at least not written down) until thirty years later.

It seems that it's only relatively recently that the word 'fortepiano' started applying only to period instruments. Since 'fortepiano' applies to a huge spectrum of different instruments from Christofori to Beethoven anyway, it's probably best to describe them by period, or manufacturer.

Originally Posted by Zetetic

I'm listening to KV399 currently, and was just about to write a praiseworthy review of the opening Ouverture-Allegro (it appears the suite was left unfinished), when I heard three, consecutive parallel fifths blare out from my PC speakers! Other than that hiccough though, the work is really rather interesting.

You still haven't said where the parallel fifths are. Where are they?

Mozart's late string quartets (and other chamber works) are getting rather complex and chromatic.

And while the harmonies and theory of his piano sonatas are simple, the small (tiny) things he does are rarely done by any other composers - they are actually quite complex though overlooked in analysis.

Originally Posted by jsoldi

I've been analyzing some Mozart sonatas and didn't know they were so simple, I mean they are 2 + 2 = 4. I thought WTF they are all the same thing but after hearing them again just for joy I allmost cryed they are justo so...... (sorry, no word exists for this). I mean even the name M.O.Z.A.R.T makes me laugh for sweetnes his an angel.

Mozart's music, not only his sonatas, is extremely sophisticated. Even his simplest pieces (the "little" C major sonata, for example) were achieved through years of study and his uncanny musical intellect and sensibility. When we try to write in his style we often get stuck with those trademark passage-works and I-ii-V-I progressions - common language of the time - which he used in abundance, but were usually preceded and followed by very refined harmonic and melodic turns. His chamber music, operas and piano concertos are something not even Beethoven could surpass. The latter had to find his own way to bring music ahead, since the "Mozart style" had already reached perfection. I would recommend reading Charles Rosen's famous book "The Classical Style" to appreciate both composers even more - as well as Papa Haydn.

Good luck with your studies!

Mozart's late string quartets (and other chamber works) are getting rather complex and chromatic.

Yeah! The 2nd 'Prussian' quartet K.590 contains some *very* modern, very chromatic ideas for 1789 or whenever he wrote it, especially in the minuet.
And of course the 'Dissonance' quartet has that really eerie opening, and further strange inflexions even in the bright Allegro that follows (listen for when there are triplets).

what i love about mozart's music is that i cant find anything wrong with it. everything is perfect.