Piano and Mozart
Mozart Sonata in C Major, K. 330, First Movement
In this paper, I will go in depth and analyze the first movement of Mozart’s Piano sonata in C major, K. 330. I will follow the guideline by Jan C. LaRue titled “Guidelines for Style Analysis*”. I will look in depth at the different factors that facilitate our ability in recognizing music in general. The five factors are Sound, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, and Growth. My goal is to clarify and facilitate what it was that Mozart intended to do in this piece, as well as simply describe some of the different configurations that he implemented in this particular first movement. It is important to describe styles from different composers since we need to develop our ability in using our ears so we can differentiate music from different composers. Overall, however, it is my goal to achieve a higher degree of understanding of this piece from the reader’s point of view. First, however, I think it is important to understand some of the historical background that took place when this music was composed.
Unlike our current time, musicians were seen as low middle class individuals during the eighteenth century. They were usually employed by churches and royalty since they were in need of individuals that could produce a lot of works for their continuous events, yet they were usually underpaid. Another option was being a freelance musician, but that was risky since they would make even less income since they would not be stable. Mozart is an example of someone that attempted being a freelancer, but it wasn’t great for him since he was in debt and always in need
of money. Regardless, Mozart was able to produce an overwhelming amount of music that influenced future generations. During his time, one of the musical styles that was prevalent was the “Style Galant”, which was light and frivolous music that was simple and pleasing to listeners, almost like entertainment music. Mozart was very much indulged in this style
In this paper, I will go in depth and analyze the first movement of Mozart’s Piano sonata in C major, K. 330. I will follow the guideline by Jan C. LaRue titled “Guidelines for Style Analysis*”. I will look in depth at the different factors that facilitate our ability in recognizing music in general. The five factors are Sound, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, and Growth. My goal is to clarify and facilitate what it was that Mozart intended to do in this piece, as well as simply describe some of the different configurations that he implemented in this particular first movement. It is important to describe styles from different composers since we need to develop our ability in using our ears so we can differentiate music from different composers. Overall, however, it is my goal to achieve a higher degree of understanding of this piece from the reader’s point of view. First, however, I think it is important to understand some of the historical background that took place when this music was composed.
Unlike our current time, musicians were seen as low middle class individuals during the eighteenth century. They were usually employed by churches and royalty since they were in need of individuals that could produce a lot of works for their continuous events, yet they were usually underpaid. Another option was being a freelance musician, but that was risky since they would make even less income since they would not be stable. Mozart is an example of someone that attempted being a freelancer, but it wasn’t great for him since he was in debt and always in need
of money. Regardless, Mozart was able to produce an overwhelming amount of music that influenced future generations. During his time, one of the musical styles that was prevalent was the “Style Galant”, which was light and frivolous music that was simple and pleasing to listeners, almost like entertainment music. Mozart was very much indulged in this style