Piano Sonata No. 8 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K. 310 / 300d, was written in 1778. The sonata is the first of only two Mozart piano sonatas in a minor key (the other being No. 14 in C minor, K. 457). It was composed in the summer of 1778 around the time of his mother's death, one of the most tragic times of his life.[1]
| Piano Sonata in A minor | |
|---|---|
| No. 8 | |
| by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | |
 Mozart, 1777 copy of a lost painting | |
| Key | A minor |
| Catalogue | K. 310 / 300d |
| Style | Classical period |
| Composed | 1778 |
| Movements | Three (Allegro maestoso, Andante cantabile con espressione, Presto) |
Background
Little is known about the precise circumstances surrounding the composition of the sonata; unlike the earlier Sonata in C major, K. 309/284b, it was little mentioned in his correspondence.[2] The surviving manuscript was written using the same type of paper that was used for the Symphony in D major, K. 297/300a, which Mozart purchased while in Paris.[3]
Structure
The composition, which typically takes around 22 minutes to perform, is in three movements:
- Allegro maestoso, common time
- Andante cantabile con espressione, F major, 3/4
- Presto, 2/4
References
Notes
- Anderson 1990, p. 2.
- Irving 1997, p. 62.
- Irving 1997, p. 64.
Sources
- Anderson, Keith (1990). Mozart: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 (CD). Naxos Records. 8.550445.
- Irving, John (1997). Mozart's Piano Sonatas: Contexts, Sources, Style. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-49631-4.
Further reading
- Irving, John (2010). Understanding Mozart's Piano Sonatas. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7546-6769-8.
- Jaffe, Jane Vial (2015). "Program Notes: Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 300d (K. 310)". Parlance Chamber Concerts.}
- Keefe, Simon P., ed. (2015). Mozart Studies 2. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-04423-4.
- Levin, Robert D. "Mozart and the Keyboard Culture of his time" (PDF). Bar-Ilan University.
- Moylan, Andrew L. (2014). Venerable Style, Form, and Avant-Garde in Mozart's Minor Key Piano Sonatas K. 310 and K. 457: Topic and Structure (M.Mus). University of Massachusetts Amherst.
- Thomas, Derek (2015). "The Formal Structure and Biographical Significance of Mozart's Sonata No. 8 K.310 Movement I Allegro Maestoso" (PDF). Belmont University.
External links
- Sonate in a KV 310 (300d): Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
- Piano Sonata No. 8: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Video on YouTube, Emil Gilels