Piano Sonata No. 18 (Mozart)
Encyclopedia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Piano Sonata
No. 18 in D major
, K
576 (1789) is a sonata in three movements
:
A typical performance takes about 15 minutes.
In a letter to a fellow Freemason Michael von Puchberg
, Mozart wrote "meanwhile I am working on six easy piano sonatas for Princess Friederike and six quartets for the King". K.576 was the only sonata completed. Despite Mozart's intention for the sonata to be easy, it is extremely difficult to play. The sonata would also be Mozart's last.
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 Sonata
Piano sonata
A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement , two movements , five or even more movements...
No. 18 in D major
D major
D 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....
, K
Köchel-Verzeichnis
The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. It is abbreviated K or KV. For example, Mozart's Requiem in D minor was, according to Köchel's counting, the 626th piece Mozart composed....
576 (1789) is a sonata in three movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
:
- Allegro
- Adagio
- Allegretto
A typical performance takes about 15 minutes.
In a letter to a fellow Freemason Michael von Puchberg
Michael von Puchberg
Johann Michael von Puchberg was a textile merchant who lived in Vienna in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
, Mozart wrote "meanwhile I am working on six easy piano sonatas for Princess Friederike and six quartets for the King". K.576 was the only sonata completed. Despite Mozart's intention for the sonata to be easy, it is extremely difficult to play. The sonata would also be Mozart's last.