Piano Sonata No. 13 (Mozart)

The "Piano Sonata in B-flat major", K. 333 (315c), was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Linz at the end of 1783.

Dating

There is no doubt that this sonata was first published on April 21, 1784 in Vienna by Christoph Torricella (along with K. 284 and K. 454, as op. 7). The actual date of composition, however, has proved more difficult to determine. In the first edition of his catalog (1862), Köchel gave the hypothetical date 1779, later clarified by Georges de Saint-Foix (1936) to "Salzburg, beginning of January-March 1779." However, Alfred Einstein, in the third edition of the Köchel catalog (1937), said that it was composed in "late summer 1778 in Paris." This date was maintained even until the sixth edition of the Köchel catalog (1964).

More recently, this date has been invalidated by the findings of Wolfgang Plath and Alan Tyson. On the basis of Mozart's script, Plath assigns the piece to the time around 1783/84, "likely not long before the appearance of the first print." Furthermore, Tyson convincingly demonstrates that the work was composed at the end of 1783, likely in November, around the same time as the "Linz Symphony", K. 425, when the Mozart couple made a stopover in Linz on their way back to Vienna from Salzburg. This new dating also fits stylistic criteria. [This section draws its information from the Preface to the Neue Mozart Ausgabe IX:25/2, the volume containing the critical edition of this sonata. For more information, see Alan Tyson, "The Date of Mozart's Piano Sonata in B flat, KV 333/315c: the 'Linz Sonata'?" in "Musik - Edition - Interpretation: Gedenkschrift Günter Henle," edited by Martin Bente (Munich, 1980): 447-454.]

Movements

The work is a sonata in three movements:

#"Allegro"
#"Andante cantabile"
#"Allegretto grazioso"

A typical performance takes about 23 minutes.

I. Allegro

The tune of the first movement is playful and lively. This simple melody is accompanied by the arpeggio-style chords played in the left hand. As the first few bars are establish, the level gets higher and eventually restarts from a relatively lower level.The theme is repeated but then it varies and the climax builds slowly and ends with an arpeggio of F Major. The mood softens and a phrase is established which will be repeated 2 times in this key, but varied slightly by key. The first part slowly ends with the familiar arpeggio with the chord played (brokenly) and repeatedly.

The second part is introduced by varying the theme three times which leads to a minor key. It slowly establishes back to B-flat with a small spark that played the theme in minor key for a short time then slowly it builds up to a higher key.

The third part repeats the 1st part but in a higher key with few variations. It ends on the same key with a slight minor key change in the last few bars but building up to the key in time to end the first movement.

II. Andante cantabile

The second movement starts in a major key and slowly moves down to a minor. The tempo does not change too much as piece is played. The second part establishes in a minor key. The third part plays the theme in a higher key. The theme played is not too similar to any of the other movements. This movement ends similarly as it started.

III. Allegretto

The third movement shows much similarity to the first by chord pattern and by music phrases. It starts simpler but playfully. The level of difficulty increases with the time. The theme is repeated but with the familiar broken chord accompanying the melody. The mood slowly softens but then it quickly establishes to a difficult melody. It ends with a climax building up.

Now comes the second part expectedly. The first part is repeated all over until the part where it will previously establish the difficult part. It changes course to introduce a minor key. It then plays two phrases which will be repeated in different keys. The third part comes in quickly and unexpectedly. It slowly plays to a part where the major and minor keys take turn per few bars. It slowly establishes back to major key where it repeats the first part for the second time. Variations are spliced in between where similar chord patterns are shifted to a major key. A few parts occur where minor keys suddenly come in. This part shows the very difficult parts of the whole sonata. The keys shift to a higher key (major) where some very familiar phrases from the first part are varied. The difficulty of the notes changes slightly.It continues with familiar phrases adapted from the first movement. Then comes a series of arpeggios which shows a very high level of difficulty. Only a few minor keys come in. A short pause comes and enter the first theme (repeated for the third time) but with accompaniment variations. It ends with the same key.

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