Piano Sonata No. 8 (Mozart)

Piano Sonata in A minor
No. 8
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
First page of the autograph
Key	A minor
Catalogue	K. 310 / 300d
Style	Classical period
Composed	1778 (1778)
Movements	Three (Allegro maestoso, Andante cantabile con espressione, Presto)

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]

The autograph manuscript of the sonata is preserved in the Morgan Library & Museum.

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 used for the Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297/300a, which Mozart purchased while in Paris.[3]

The sonata is a rare minor key 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.[4]

Structure

The composition, which typically takes around 22 minutes to perform, is in three movements:

1. Allegro maestoso, ^4
   ₄
2. Andante cantabile con espressione, F major, ^3
   ₄
3. Presto, ^2
   ₄

References

1. Anderson 1990, p. 2.
2. Irving 1997, p. 62.
3. Irving 1997, p. 64.
4. Zaslaw & Cowdery 1990, p. 310–311.

Bibliography

• 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.
• Zaslaw, Neal; Cowdery, William, eds. (1990). The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-02886-7.

Further reading

• Irving, John (2010). Understanding Mozart's Piano Sonatas. Ashgate Publishing. 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

• Media related to Piano Sonata No. 8 (Mozart) at Wikimedia Commons
•  Sonate in a KV 310 (300^d): Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
• Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 310 (300d) (interactive score) on Verovio Humdrum Viewer (Alte Mozart-Ausgabe version)
• Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 310 (300d): Artaria edition (ca. 1792) at the Harvard Library
•  Piano Sonata No. 8 (Mozart): Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
• Piano Sonata No. 8: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project