Tuesday, May 28, 2013

K. 26, Sonata in E-flat


K. 26, Sonata in E-flat

Right now I am trying to sift through works of contention.  I am in period of Mozart’s life where various pieces ascribed to him during his Hague months.  He was sick for some time, and downtime lent itself to composing.  I was gone for the weekend, so it was hard to sort through which piece to listen to next.  Thus, I choose a work of little debate, and a work lumped in with others so I can comment further on their history in future blurbs.  I want to find out more about Princess Carolina, to whom K. 26-31 were dedicated. 

The first movement opens with an allegro molto. One hand of the harpsichord ticks like a high paced metronome.  Seems a theme through out the piece.  The first movement flutters with hopeful anticipation. The second movement is an adagio poco andante.  This combination of tempos is new to me.  I learned the poco mean ‘a little.’ What came to mind as I listened to this movement was a slow tango.  It has a dramatic attitude that is followed with a surrendering sigh.  Like when my oldest son becomes defiant in cries, when I removed the stimulus, he quickly caves in. 

The third movement is a rondo (allegro).  I’ve read that the entire work could be played with the keyboard alone, but this movement leads me to wonder how that could be.  The two instruments dialogue in such a manner that would seem dead with one instrument alone.  

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