Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
's Piano Sonata No. 8 in
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major.
The A natural minor scale is:
:
Changes ...
,
K. 310 / 300d, was written in
1778. The
sonata
Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...
is the first of only two Mozart
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 ( Scarlatti, Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with t ...
s in a
minor key
In Western music, the adjectives major and minor may describe a chord, scale, or key. As such, composition, movement, section, or phrase may be referred to by its key, including whether that key is major or minor.
Intervals
Some intervals ...
(the other being
No. 14 in C minor, K. 457). It was composed in the summer of 1778 around the time of
his mother
''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...
's death, one of the most tragic times of his life.
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. The surviving manuscript was written using the same type of paper used for the
Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297/300a, which Mozart purchased while in Paris.
The sonata is a rare
minor key
In Western music, the adjectives major and minor may describe a chord, scale, or key. As such, composition, movement, section, or phrase may be referred to by its key, including whether that key is major or minor.
Intervals
Some intervals ...
composition in
Mozart's catalogue. Composed alongside the
Violin Sonata No. 21 in E minor, K. 304/300c, it has been suggested that the sudden death of
Mozart's mother may have led to the more sombre mood found in these pieces.
Structure
The composition, which typically takes around 22 minutes to perform, is in three
movements
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
:
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
* (
Alte Mozart-Ausgabe
The ''Alte Mozart-Ausgabe'' is the name by which the first complete edition of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is known nowadays, published by Breitkopf & Härtel from January 1877 to December 1883, with supplements published until 1910. Th ...
version)
*
Piano Sonata 08
1778 compositions
Compositions in A minor
{{sonata-stub