Violin Sonata No. 1 (Mozart)

Sonata in C for Keyboard and Violin, K. 6, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and is one of his earliest works. It does in fact encompass several of Mozart's firsts as a composer: for example, it was Mozart's first work incorporating the violin, it was his first work with more than a single instrument, and it was his first work in sonata form. In fact, previous to this, all his works had been short solo-pieces for the harpsichord. K6 also happens to be his first piece in more than one movement.

It was composed by a budding Mozart between 1762 and 1764. The precise date and location of its composition, however, are disputed: some suggest that it was written in Salzburg, the boy's home town, in 1762 or 1763; others suggest that it was written in Paris in 1763 or 1764, during Mozart's first visit to that city. It was published in Paris in February 1764, along with another violin sonata, K7, as Mozart's “Opus 1”. (Two other violin sonatas, K8 and K9, were published together as “Opus 2” the following April.) Mozart would have been between 6 and 8 years of age when he composed K6; hence it is believed by many that it was written down for the boy by his father, Leopold: all four of these early sonatas are preserved in Leopold's handwriting.

The Notenbuch für Nannerl contains versions for solo piano of the first three movements of this sonata. It is thought that the first and second of these movements and the Menuet I from the third movement were inscribed in the "Notenbuch" by Leopold in Brussels in 1763. A version for solo piano of Menuet II (together with a piano version of the third movement of Leopold's Serenade in D) can also be found in Leopold's hand in the "Notenbuch" with the comment, "di Wolfgango Mozart d. 16^ten Julÿ 1762" ("by Wolfgang Mozart on 16 July 1762); Mozart was in Salzburg on that date.

Composed for the harpsichord (though it has since been performed, at times, on the piano) and violin, the Violin Sonata No. 1 is in a common key for the pre-1765 works – C major. The piece was Mozart's longest composition to date (13 minutes at a moderate tempo).

Like all Mozart's early violin sonatas, K6 is really a keyboard sonata with violin accompaniment, a fact which is made clear from the original title of the four sonatas K6-9: "Sonates pour le clavecin qui peuvent se jouer avec l'accompagnement de violon" (“Sonatas for the keyboard, which may be played with violin accompaniment”). It is quite legitimate, therefore, to perform these works on a keyboard alone.

In composing these early sonatas, Mozart may have been influenced by the German keyboard player and composer Johann Schobert, who was living and working in Paris when the Mozarts arrived there in November 1763. Schobert, in fact, had already published a number of keyboard sonatas with violin accompaniment, which possibly served as models for the young Mozart.

K6 has 4 movements, the third being a pair of menuets:

#Allegro
#Andante
#Menuet I & II
#Allegro molto

The keyboard and violin interact in various ways throughout the piece: the violin echoing the tune of the keyboard, the two moving in synchronicity. The violin sometimes doubles the tune while the keyboard provides the bass. It is quite a lively and light-hearted work. Mozart successfully employs Alberti bass in this sonata.