Mozart: 2 Pianos

No. 314 of the ongoing ITYWLTMT series of audio montages, which can be found in our archives at https://archive.org/details/pcast314

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This week’s Blog and Podcast continues our look at Mozart (three podcasts in a row!_) rtguis time with a focus on works for two pianos (or piano four hands) either composed by Mozart, or inspired by Mozart – as is the case in the Theme and Variations After Mozart by Max Reger.

Reger’s piece revisits the theme from the opening movement of the K. 331 sonata (most memorable for the Turkish Rondo finale) and continues where Mozart left off (with a modest set of variations of his own) by suggesting  set of more complex and intricate variations for four hands. Mozart’s K. 501 - also performed by the duo of Dale Bartlett and Jean Marchand – provide a good comparison as to how Mozart deftly uses the mix of voices available with two pianists.

Mozart left us a few works for two pianos (or four hands on a single keyboard) and many of them were intended for Mozart to perform with his sister Nannerl, herself considered his virtuosic equal in their youth. It is believed that the sonata in D Major, K. 381, was performed in Salzburg on September 3^rd 1780, in a concert where the pair also performed a concerto for two keyboards – that could be either his concerto for three pianos in a well-known two-piano adaptation or his concerto for two pianos. The record is unclear.

The first piece in the montage is labelled K. 357 in the Köchel catalog, but is sometimes referred to a pair of Köchel numbers (497a and 500a). The movements are thought of as an uunfinished sonata in G Major .

I think you will love this music too.