This piece is arranged
for Solo Piano, so the
piano is the only
instrumental resource.
This Piano Sonata by
Mozart is written in an
elegant and galant
classical style, which
made it enjoyable for
the general public to
listen to during the
Classical Era.
This Piano Sonata was also published in Vienna in 1784, which
tells us that at that time, the piano had replaced the
Harpsichord. However, the piano was lighter in tone than today.
The tempo marking
indicated for this
piece is "Allegro",
which means that it
should be played at a
brisk and lively pace.
This piece by Mozart uses
Sonata form, which means that
it has 3 sections- Exposition,
Development and
Recapitulation.
The Exposition shows off the
main ideas of the piece, the
Development uses these ideas
and presents them in a new and
altered way and the
Recapitulation returns to the
material of the Exposition but
stays in the tonic key.
The key of this piece is Bb
Major, because it has 2 flats
in the key signature- B flat
and E flat.
During the Development
section the key moves from
the dominant through a
range of related keys.
In the Recapitulation section
the key returns to Bb Major
due to the addition of
accidentals and flats.
This Piano Sonata has a
Melody Dominated
Homophony texture. This
means that the piece has a
clear right hand with a chord
accompaniment.
The piece also has a thin, clear
texture due to the frequent
use of 2 part textures and
clear harmonic progressions.
Periodic phrasing is also used
at the beginning of the piece.
This Sonata has an ornate
right hand melody with a
broken chord left hand and
frequent use of Alberti Bass.
During the Development
section, Mozart uses clear
harmonic progressions with
regular cadences to define
the keys.
Periodic phrasing, pairs of
equal length question and
answer phrasing, is used in
the Exposition section a lot.
Simple triads are commonly used in
the Exposition and Recapitulation
sections , especially in the tonic
and dominant keys of the piece.
However during the Development
section, the use of chromatic
harmony is introduced as a main
feature.
Mozart also uses an augmented 6th
chord and a diminished 7th chord
near the end of the Development
section.
This Piano Sonata has a
4/4 time signature,
which means that
there are 4 crotchet
beats per bar.
Most of the rhythms in
this piece are on the
beat, but occasional
dotted rhythms can be
found throughout.
Notes lengths such as crotchets, dotted crotchets, quavers
and semi-quavers are amongst the most common notes
used in the Sonata.
There is only small use of
dynamics in the piece. For
example, the beginning has no
dynamic markings, so it should
be played at "Moderato Forte".
There are only several other
dynamic markings throughout,
such as "piano" and "forte".
This suggests that Mozart
wanted pianists to interpret
this piece in their own manner.