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The Piano Sonata No. 11 in
A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...
, K. 331 / 300i, by
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 ...
is a
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 ...
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 ...
. The sonata was published by
Artaria Artaria & Co. () was one of the most important music publishing firms of the late 18th and 19th century. Founded in the 18th century in Vienna, the company is associated with many leading names of the classical era. History Artaria & Co. was foun ...
in 1784, alongside Nos. 10 and 12 (K. 330 and K. 332). The third movement of this sonata, famously known as the "Turkish March" or "Turkish Rondo," is often heard on its own and regarded as one of Mozart's best-known piano pieces.


Structure

The sonata consists of 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 ...
: All of the movements are in the
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
of
A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...
or
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 ...
; therefore, the work is
homotonal ''Homotonal'' (same-tonality) is a technical musical term pertaining to the tonal structure of multi-movement compositions. It was introduced into musicology by Hans Keller. According to Keller's definition and usage, a multi-movement composition ...
. A typical performance of this entire sonata takes about 20 minutes.


I. ''Andante grazioso''

Since the opening movement of this sonata is a
theme and variation In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these. Variation techniques Mozart's Twelve V ...
, Mozart defied the convention of beginning a sonata with an allegro movement in
sonata form Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle ...
. The theme is a
siciliana The siciliana or siciliano (also known as the sicilienne or the ciciliano) is a musical style or genre often included as a movement within larger pieces of music starting in the Baroque period. It is in a slow or time with lilting rhythms, ...
, consisting of two 8-measure sections, each repeated, a structure shared by each variation.


II. ''Menuetto''

The second movement of the sonata is a standard
minuet and trio A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in Triple metre, time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form ...
movement in A major.


III. ''Alla turca''

The last movement, marked ''Alla turca'', popularly known as the "Turkish Rondo" or "Turkish March", is often heard on its own and is one of Mozart's best-known piano pieces. : Mozart himself titled the
rondo The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...
"Alla turca". It imitates the sound of Turkish Janissary bands, the music of which was much in vogue at that time. *Section A: This
section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sign ...
, in A minor, consists of a rising sixteenth-note melody followed by a falling eighth note melody over a
staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...
eighth-note
accompaniment Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles ...
. It is eight measures long. *Section B: This section introduces new material in a melody in thirds and eighth notes before varying the A section with a
crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependi ...
before falling back to piano by a modification of Section A. *Section C: A ''
forte Forte or Forté may refer to: Music *Forte (music), a musical dynamic meaning "loudly" or "strong" *Forte number, an ordering given to every pitch class set *Forte (notation program), a suite of musical score notation programs *Forte (vocal gro ...
'' march in octaves over an
arpeggiated A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
chord accompaniment. The key changes to A major. *Section D: A ''
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
'' continuous sixteenth note melody over a broken-chord accompaniment. This section is in the
relative key In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures ( enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of major ...
,
F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...
. *Section E: A ''forte'' scale-like theme followed by a modification of section D. *Coda: A ''forte'' theme consisting mostly of chords (arpeggiated and not) and octaves. There is a brief piano restatement of the theme in the middle of the
coda Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...
. The movement ends with alternating A octaves followed by two A-major chords.


Relationships to later compositions and arrangements

The theme of the first movement was used by
Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...
in his ''
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart The Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 132, is a set of variations for orchestra composed in 1914 by Max Reger; the composer conducted the premiere in Berlin on 5 February 1915. He later produced a version for two pianos, Op. 132a, wh ...
'' (1914) for orchestra.
Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...
's "
Blue Rondo à la Turk "Blue Rondo à la Turk" is a jazz standard composition by Dave Brubeck. It appeared on the album '' Time Out'' in 1959. It is written in time, with one side theme in and the choice of rhythm was inspired by the Turkish aksak time signatures. I ...
" (1959) is ''not'' based on or related to the last movement. Pianist Arcadi Volodos arranged a virtuoso piano solo paraphrase, loosely-built from keyparts of the Sonata. Folk metal band
Ulytau Ulytau ( kk, Ұлытау, ''Ūlytau''), literally meaning "the great mountain", is a popular Turkic neopagan instrumental folk metal trio from Kazakhstan. Their music combines the sound of the violin and electric guitar with the dombra, a tradit ...
published a metal version of the ''Rondo alla Turca'' in 2009. There are also plentiful adaptations for chamber size ensembles; as the arrangement of the ''Andante Grazioso'' for string quartet and guitar from the German composer Frederic Bernard.


2014 autograph discovery

In 2014, Hungarian librarian Balázs Mikusi discovered four pages of Mozart's original score (autograph) of the sonata in Budapest's
National Széchényi Library The National Széchényi Library ( hu, Országos Széchényi Könyvtár) (OSZK) is a library in Budapest, Hungary, located in Buda Castle. It is one of two Hungarian national libraries, the other being University of Debrecen Library. History The ...
. Until then, only the last page of the autograph had been known to have survived. The paper and handwriting of the four pages matched that of the final page of the score, held in Salzburg. The original score is close to the first edition, published in 1784. In the first movement, however, in bars 5 and 6 of the fifth variation, the rhythm of the last three notes was altered. In the menuetto, the last quarter beat of bar 3 is a C in most editions, but in the original autograph an A is printed. In the first edition, an A is also printed in bar 3, as in the original, but on the other hand a C is printed in the parallel passage at bar 33, mirroring subsequent editions. In September 2014,
Zoltán Kocsis Zoltán Kocsis (; 30 May 1952 – 6 November 2016) was a Hungarian pianist, conductor and composer. Biography Studies Born in Budapest, he began his musical studies at the age of five and continued them at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in 19 ...
gave the first performance of the rediscovered score.


References


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) *
Free scores of the Piano Sonata No. 11
at
Mutopia Project The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000.Portal page at thInternet ArchiveRetrieved January 24, 20 ...
* * ,
Daniel Barenboim Daniel Barenboim (; in he, דניאל בארנבוים, born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin. He has been since 1992 General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera and "Staatskapellmeist ...
{{Authority control Piano Sonata 11 1783 compositions Compositions in A major Variations