Post by erik on Jul 29, 2023 19:38:35 GMT -5
An extremely early example of Mozart at the piano is featured in this week's Classical Works Spotlight, adapting a sonata by J.C. Bach into a piano concerto.
Mozart: PIANO CONCERTO IN D MAJOR, K. 107, NO. 1
Although the “official” total number of concertos that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed for the piano is twenty-seven, that number may actually be closer to thirty instead. This is because, very early on, the very young Salzburg wunderkind made arrangements of keyboard sonatas by close friend Johann Christian Bach that, although not listed as enumerated concertos per se, were nevertheless grouped more than a century later by Ludwig Koechel, the man responsible for cataloguing all of Mozart’s works, under the opus number K. 107. In the case of the first one, the one in D Major, Mozart arranged J.C. Bach’s Sonata No. 2 In D Major into a relatively short (at less than fourteen minutes) but to-the-point piano concerto in the traditional three-movement format (Allegro; Andante; Tempo Di Menuetto). For Mozart, who was not yet eleven years old when he adapted J.C. Bach’s sonatas (including No. 3 In G Major, and No. 4 In E Flat Major), these adaptations were a way of moving himself to where he felt he could compose his own fully-fledged concerto for his most important instrument. All of these early works are scored for small orchestras, largely strings with a few woodwind instruments and horns. Many of Mozart’s later piano concertos would increase the orchestra size to include trumpets and timpani, but not here, not yet. The first modern recordings of these extremely early experiments of W.A. Mozart’s were made in 1984 with pianist Murray Perahia conducting the English Chamber Orchestra from his place at the keyboard.
Piano: MRRAY PERAHIA
English Chamber Orchestra/MURRAY PERAHIA (Sony)
Included:
Mozart: PIANO CONCERTO IN G MAJOR, K. 107, NO. 2
Mozart: PIANO CONCERTO IN E FLAT MAJOR, K. 107, NO. 3
Johann Schroeter: PIANO CONCERTO IN C MAJOR, OP. 3, NO. 3
Mozart: PIANO CONCERTO IN D MAJOR, K. 107, NO. 1
Although the “official” total number of concertos that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed for the piano is twenty-seven, that number may actually be closer to thirty instead. This is because, very early on, the very young Salzburg wunderkind made arrangements of keyboard sonatas by close friend Johann Christian Bach that, although not listed as enumerated concertos per se, were nevertheless grouped more than a century later by Ludwig Koechel, the man responsible for cataloguing all of Mozart’s works, under the opus number K. 107. In the case of the first one, the one in D Major, Mozart arranged J.C. Bach’s Sonata No. 2 In D Major into a relatively short (at less than fourteen minutes) but to-the-point piano concerto in the traditional three-movement format (Allegro; Andante; Tempo Di Menuetto). For Mozart, who was not yet eleven years old when he adapted J.C. Bach’s sonatas (including No. 3 In G Major, and No. 4 In E Flat Major), these adaptations were a way of moving himself to where he felt he could compose his own fully-fledged concerto for his most important instrument. All of these early works are scored for small orchestras, largely strings with a few woodwind instruments and horns. Many of Mozart’s later piano concertos would increase the orchestra size to include trumpets and timpani, but not here, not yet. The first modern recordings of these extremely early experiments of W.A. Mozart’s were made in 1984 with pianist Murray Perahia conducting the English Chamber Orchestra from his place at the keyboard.
Piano: MRRAY PERAHIA
English Chamber Orchestra/MURRAY PERAHIA (Sony)
Included:
Mozart: PIANO CONCERTO IN G MAJOR, K. 107, NO. 2
Mozart: PIANO CONCERTO IN E FLAT MAJOR, K. 107, NO. 3
Johann Schroeter: PIANO CONCERTO IN C MAJOR, OP. 3, NO. 3