SUNDAY, February 23, 2020
Mozart’s use of minor…
Mozart was generally a rather buoyant, cheerful man. He was not known to brood, so we generally think of his light, airy, graceful and effortless music as reflective of his personality. But he had a much darker side. At such times his expression because more serious and even stormy – in short, more like Beethoven, who of course followed.
Out of 87, 81 say major…
There are 41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos and 19 piano sonatas. Only six of all these 87 say minor, and that means that Mozart usually stayed in major for everything once he started there.
The six exceptions that are in minor…
- Two are symphonies both in G minor.
- Two are piano concertos in C minor and D minor.
- Two are sonatas in C minor and A minor.
“Major” in the title…
It usually meant that all movements were in major, so when he wrote any movement in minor, usually the slow movement that normally came 2nd, it was a pretty unusual thing for Mozart. He only did it five times in all 87, and never in his symphonies or piano sonatas. He only did it in his piano concertos, and only five times.
Minor was personal for Mozart…
When he switched to minor in his piano concertos, it was unusual and personal. He was generally expressing great pain of sadness. When he actually indicated minor as the key, only the slow movement would be in major, for relief.
Here are 11 exceptions for Mozart…
Since there are 41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos and 19 piano sonatas – a total of 87 large works – you can see how rare it was for Mozart to write any movement in minor. Below are the 11 exceptions.
- Magenta is for the ones labeled major that switch to minor for the slow movements.
- Blue is for the “blue-mood” ones, the ones that start and end with dark, brooding sound and only switch to major for the 2nd movement.
I – Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, K. 41, (1767) – 11 years old…
II – Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183/173dB, (1773) – Age 17
III – Piano Concerto No. 9- “Jenamy” – in Eb major, K. 271, (1777) – age 21…
IV – Piano Sonata No. 8 K. 310 / 300d, in A minor, (1778) – age 22.
V – Piano Concerto No.
VI – The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457, (1784) – age 28
VII – Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K.
VIII – Piano Concerto No. 22 in Eb major, K. 482, (1785) – age 29…
IX – Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 (1786) – age 30…
X – Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491 (1785-1786) – around age 30…
XI – Symphony No. 40 in G minor K, 550, (1788) – age 32…
I like the idea of the colour coding, and your explanations gave an interesting perspective. The contrasting majors and minors in the way you set out.