Classical Works Spotlight #603--Early Mozart Piano Concerto

[erik]

Of the twenty-seven piano concertos Mozart composed in his short lifetime, the first four were more like orchestrations of recent piano sonatas of other far lesser known German composers. One of those is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight.

Mozart: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4 IN G MAJOR, K. 41

The whole genre of the piano concerto was elevated to a Zen art by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. During his lamentably short life, Mozart managed to make the most of his piano virtuosity, in many ways paving the way for Beethoven. But of the twenty-seven concertos he composed for the piano, the first four, all composed in 1767 when Mozart was only eleven years old, were actually based on sonatas by various, and quite obscure, German piano virtuosi and turned into concertos by Mozart, possibly as a compositional teaching method by his father Leopold. Although these four works may not have been original, they nevertheless provided the young composer with a blueprint for what he would do, right up to his final concerto, No. 27, which was premiered less than a year before his untimely death. What is know as the Fourth Piano Concerto, though again derived from other composers, is quite unusual in that its second movement is in a minor key (G Minor), which would be true for only four other concertos of his (nos. 9, 18, 22, and 23). More elaborately scored works in this field were to come, of course (including the first truly original Mozart concerto, No. 5), but even at that the small orchestration here (pairs of French horns and flutes, plus strings, and the soloist) still works for the techniques that Mozart would develop soon enough.



Piano: MURRAY PERAHIA

English Chamber Orchestra/MURRAY PERAHIA (CBS)

Included:
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN F MAJOR, K. 37
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 IN B FLAT MAJOR, K. 39
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3 IN D MAJOR, K. 40
THREE PIANO CONCERTI (AFTER SONATAS BY J.C. BACH), K. 107
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 8 IN C MAJOR, K. 246 (LUTZOW)

[egoodstein]

Mozart's early concertos are a sort of interesting chapter in his work by themselves. And as you say, offer some insight into other music around that time and Leopold's teaching techniques. This is one of the more fully 'conceived' and individual ones that point more to the future, and still reveal the charm his approach has. No question that Mozart really created the piano concerto as a significant classical music form, and also they offer insights into how he approached other kinds of compositions too. Perahia's certainly one of the finest Mozart interpreters as well-- finding the right path and tone.

[erik]

These are definitely the excursions of a very young man (really still a pre-teen boy) with extremely high ambitions in life. It tends to be that the great composers either borrow or steal from their predecessors; and it does seem to be true in these early piano concertos, such at #4. Of course, it didn't take too long for young Wolfgang to revolutionize the instrument to such a prominent place.