K. 595, Piano Concerto 27 in B-flat Major.

K. 595, Piano Concerto 27 in B-flat Major. 

You may be thinking, why this piece next?  Simple answer, I checked out this CD from the library.

The first movement is the most complex in mood, switching from longings to declarations.  Interjected in places, an uncertainty as one feels if he or she has a strong desire for something.  That person tends to suppress elated feelings, for he or she believes if hope abounds chances of a desirable outcome diminish.  The second movement is more reflective, trying to conjure past hopes, but not daring to over inflate them.  A melancholy half-smile. The final movement displays a newfound joy, however not as if one’s dreams have come to full fruition, but as one who has found contentment in reality itself. 

Three years had passed since Mozart’s previous piano concerto.  In fact, he’d been in a funk altogether.  In the last year of his life, creativity flowed. Piano Concerto 27 being one of his compositions.  His final piano concerto.  Some scholars have suggested that he may have started the piece much earlier, but paused from finishing the final movement until that last year.  I wonder how many works he started but never finished.  There’s some (especially me) that have a tendency to be excited about the next new project, but lose passion.  I’ve probably got a gigabyte of short stories and novels that have fainted after their initial sprint. (I’m going to try to not let this blog die as well.)  Only one work have I completed to my personal satisfaction.  Sharing it has been one of the most gut-wrenching experiences. I have poured so much of myself into it, three years.  And for some reason, I expect that simply because I have put in the work, everyone should automatically crave it.  It doesn’t work that way.  However, if I don’t finish a product, I will not have to worry about my creation being crushed under the scrutiny, or ignored into oblivion. 

How might such feelings have plagued Mozart?  Now clearly, he was considerably more disciplined than I (35 years and hundred of compositions).  But, how may have an underappreciated funk overcome Mozart?  Surely, he left Salzburg with great expectations.  ‘Vienna will appreciate the music I love,’ he may have thought.  Of course, they did love his music, but Mozart didn’t feel as if his work received its proper respect, namely via compensation.  Mozart complained numerous times about lack of funds.  (I’m sure people could argue until their diaphragms wear about whether his financial troubles were self-inflicted.)  And, even other composers—i.e. Haydn—agreed that he was not being properly compensated.  However, the funk subsided.  Maybe, he found the joy of music simply in the joy of music.  Maybe, I should find the joy of writing, in the art of writing itself.  The third movement of this piano concerto exemplifies this.  And (don’t mistake me for a ‘power of positive thinking’ man), as Mozart’s mindset changed, his financial prospects brightened. 

Of course, my fingers wriggle trying to abstain from typing my cynical inklings…  I, in the end, must aim my joy at something eternal…