Piano Concerto No. 12 (Mozart)
Encyclopedia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414 (385p) was written in the autumn of 1782 in Vienna
. It is scored for solo piano
, two oboe
s, two bassoon
s (optional), two horn
s, and strings
(consisting of violin
s, viola
s, cello
s, and double bass
es). Like all three of the early Vienna concertos that Mozart wrote, it is a modest work that can be performed with only string quartet and piano (i.e., "a quattro").
It is in three movements:
It was the first of a set of three piano concertos (with K. 413
and 415
) that Mozart performed at his Lenten
concerts in 1783. The concert rondo in A, KV 386 has often been discussed as an alternative finale to the work; however, KV 386 cannot be performed a quattro, and autograph evidence shows that the current finale starts on the same sheet as the end of the slow movement.
Despite the modest nature and scoring of this concerto, it stands out in Mozart's early production. Although the three early Viennese concertos (Nos 11, 12 and 13) represent in some senses a formal regression compared to their immediate predecessors, especially No. 9, the "Jeunehomme" concerto, this concerto is a forerunner of the mature works in terms of its musical effect.
The second movement is notable for its quotation
of a theme from the overture to La calamita de cuori by Johann Christian Bach
, Mozart's former mentor in London, who had just died on 1 January 1782. In view of the fact that at this point, Mozart also wrote back to his father concerning Bach's death, saying of it 'what a loss to the musical world!', we may also regard the moving Andante as a musical epitaph by the younger man for the old master.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414 (385p) was written in the autumn of 1782 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. It is scored for solo piano
Piano concerto
A piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
, two oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, two bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s (optional), two horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s, and strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
(consisting of violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
s, and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es). Like all three of the early Vienna concertos that Mozart wrote, it is a modest work that can be performed with only string quartet and piano (i.e., "a quattro").
It is in three movements:
- Allegro in A majorA majorA major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor...
- Andante in D majorD majorD major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature consists of two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor....
- Allegretto in A major
It was the first of a set of three piano concertos (with K. 413
Piano Concerto No. 11 (Mozart)
Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 11 in F major, KV. 413 , was the second of the group of three early concertos he wrote whilst in Vienna, in the autumn of 1782 . It was the first full concerto he wrote for the subscription concerts he gave in the city...
and 415
Piano Concerto No. 13 (Mozart)
The Piano Concerto No. 13 in C major, K. 415 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1782–83. It is the third of the first three full concertos Mozart composed for his subscription concerts.It consists of three movements:...
) that Mozart performed at his Lenten
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
concerts in 1783. The concert rondo in A, KV 386 has often been discussed as an alternative finale to the work; however, KV 386 cannot be performed a quattro, and autograph evidence shows that the current finale starts on the same sheet as the end of the slow movement.
Despite the modest nature and scoring of this concerto, it stands out in Mozart's early production. Although the three early Viennese concertos (Nos 11, 12 and 13) represent in some senses a formal regression compared to their immediate predecessors, especially No. 9, the "Jeunehomme" concerto, this concerto is a forerunner of the mature works in terms of its musical effect.
The second movement is notable for its quotation
Musical quotation
Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work , or from a different composer's work ....
of a theme from the overture to La calamita de cuori by Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
, Mozart's former mentor in London, who had just died on 1 January 1782. In view of the fact that at this point, Mozart also wrote back to his father concerning Bach's death, saying of it 'what a loss to the musical world!', we may also regard the moving Andante as a musical epitaph by the younger man for the old master.