Sonata for piano four-hands, K. 497

History#

Mozart composed the sonata for piano four-hands in F major in Vienna in August 1786, between composing his operas Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. He may have written it to play it with a student, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin’ daughter Franziska von Jacquin.

Movements#

The sonata is structured in three movements: It is Mozart’s only sonata for piano four-hand with a slow introduction to the first movement. <!–

I. Allegro (C major)#

The first movement begins with the Primo and Secondo parts playing in unison, presenting the main theme with both vigor and delicacy. After the initial phrase, follows a tasteful and refined dialog between Primo and Secondo. A gracious second theme comes after the sixteenth note descending scales and a slight pause at the end of the first theme.

II. Andante (F major)#

This slow and melancholic second movement takes a ternary form of A–B–A. The outer sections (A sections) bear a lyrical and gentle quality, while the middle section (B section) has difficult triplets runs that give a rather tense feeling.

III. Allegretto (C major)#

The third movement is a rondo. Its main theme begins with a relaxed “music-box naivety” full of glamour and humor.

Notable performances#

Notable performances include those of Martha Argerich and Evgeny Kissin, The Latsos Piano Duo, Ingrid Haebler and –> Recordings on fortepianos include: * George Malcolm, András Schiff. Mozart. Piano Music for 4 Hands. Label: London, 1993. Fortepiano by Anton Walter (Mozart’s own). * Rolf Junghanns, Bradford Tracey. Mozart, Beethoven, Weber. Vierhändige Klaviermusik von Mozart, Beethoven und Weber. Label: FSM. Fortepiano by Adlam & Burnett (Goudhurst) after Matthäus Heilmann (Mainz, c. 1780). * Bart van Oort, Ursula Dütschler. Mozart. Label: Brilliant Classics, 2001. Fortepiano by Chris Maene (Ruiselede, 2000) after Walter (c. 1795). * Yoshio Watanabe, Akiko Sakikawa. Mozart. Label: ALM Records, 2004. Fortepiano by Ferdinand Hofmann (Vienna, c. 1790-1795). * Marie Kuijken, Veronica Kuijken. Mozart. Sonatas for Four Hands. Label: Challenge Classics, 2009. Fortepiano by Claude Kelecom after Johann Andreas Stein. * Julian Perkins, Emma Abbate. Mozart. Piano Duets, Volume 2. Label: Resonus Classics, 2017. Fortepiano by Michael Rosenberger (Vienna, c. 1800).

External links#

• • • , Ingrid Haebler and , piano