Piano Sonata No. 2 (Mozart)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major, K 280 (189e) (1774) is a sonata in three movements:

Movement One- Allegro Assai

The first movement of the sonata is in sonata form, and thus has an exposition of three themes of new material, a development, in which the themes from the exposition are varied and combined, and a recapitulation, in which the exposition is repeated and varied. The sonata begins with the first theme of the exposition, which itself begins with a forte arpeggiated chord, followed by three thirds. The theme next contains a series of falling quarter notes over block chords and Alberti bass, rapid sixteenth notes, and falling fifths. The second theme consists of legato triplets in the right hand over octaves in the left. The theme is somewhat chromatic, with frequent accidentals. The third theme is mostly quarter and eighth notes with an irregular accompaniment. The exposition ends with a C major chord. The development and recapitulation follow, varying and combing these themes before restating them, as is normal in sonata form.

Movement Two - Adagio

The second movement of the sonata is an adagio in F minor. While not marked as such, the movement is a siciliana. The mood of this movement is mournful and tragic, with the opening somewhat resembling a funeral march.

Movement Three - Presto

The sonata ends with a presto rondo in F major. It is relatively short for a presto, taking between two and three minutes to play.

A typical performance takes about 14 minutes.

The work was written down along with other piano sonatas during the visit Mozart paid to Munich for the production of La finta giardiniera from late 1774 to the beginning of the following March.

External links

• Sonate in F KV 280: Score in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
• Piano Sonata No. 2: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Recording played by Harvard Fellow Seda Röder