Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's concertos for piano and orchestra are numbered from 1 to 27. The first four numbered concertos and three unnumbered concertos K. 107 are early works that are arrangements of keyboard sonatas by various contemporary composers. Concertos 7 and 10 are compositions for three and two pianos respectively. The remaining twenty-one are original compositions for solo piano and orchestra. Many of these concertos were composed by Mozart for himself to play in the Vienna concert series of 1784–86.
For a long time relatively neglected, Mozart's piano concertos are recognised as among his greatest achievements. They were championed by Donald Tovey in his Essay on the Classical Concerto in 1903, and later by Cuthbert Girdlestone and Arthur Hutchings in 1940 (originally published in French) and 1948, respectively. Hans Tischler published a structural and thematic analysis of the concertos in 1966, followed by the works by Charles Rosen, and Daniel N. Leeson and Robert Levin.Leeson, D. N. and Levin, R. D. 1977. "On the authenticity of K Anh. C14.91 (297b), a Symphonia Concertante for Four Winds and Orchestra". Mozart-Jarbuch 1976/1977, 70–96.
The first complete edition in print was not until that of from around 1850; since then the scores and autographs have become widely available.
Piano concertos
List of concertos
Concerto No. 7 is for three (or two) pianos and orchestra, and No. 10 is for two pianos and orchestra, leaving 21 original concertos for one piano and orchestra. No. 5 in D major, K. 175 (December 1773) No. 6 in B major, K. 238 (January 1776) No. 7 in F major, K. 242 ("Lodron") for three pianos (February 1776) No. 8 in C major, K. 246 ("Lützow") (April 1776) No. 9 in E major, K. 271 ("Jeunehomme" / "Jenamy", January 1777) No. 10 in E major, K. 365/316a for two pianos (1779) No. 11 in F major, K. 413/387a (1782–1783) No. 12 in A major, K. 414/385p (1782) No. 13 in C major, K. 415/387b (1782–1783) No. 14 in E major, K. 449 (9 February 1784) No. 15 in B major, K. 450 (15 March 1784) No. 16 in D major, K. 451 (22 March 1784) No. 17 in G major, K. 453 (12 April 1784) No. 18 in B major, K. 456 (30 September 1784) No. 19 in F major, K. 459 (11 December 1784) No. 20 in D minor, K. 466 (10 February 1785) No. 21 in C major, K. 467 (9 March 1785) No. 22 in E major, K. 482 (16 December 1785) No. 23 in A major, K. 488 (2 March 1786) No. 24 in C minor, K. 491 (24 March 1786) No. 25 in C major, K. 503 (4 December 1786) No. 26 in D major, K. 537 ("Coronation", 24 February 1788) No. 27 in B major, K. 595 (5 January 1791)
Origins Early keyboard concertos were written by, among others, C. P. E. Bach, J. C. Bach, Soler, Wagenseil, Schobert, Johann Baptist Wanhal and Haydn. Earlier still, in the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto by J. S. Bach, the keyboard part is elevated to the most prominent position among the instruments. These works, with their alternation of orchestral and passages for solo display, in turn, owe their structure to the tradition of Baroque operatic arias, from which the first movements of Mozart's piano concertos inherited their basic ritornello form.
A similar structure can also be seen in the violin concerto of, for example, Vivaldi, who established the form, along with the three-movement concerto structure, and Viotti, wherein the concerto is divided into six sections. The keyboard parts of the concertos were almost invariably based on material presented in the ritornelli, and it was probably J. C. Bach, whom Mozart admired, who introduced the structural innovation of allowing the keyboard to introduce new thematic material in its first entry.
Salzburg concertos (1767–1779) Concertos Nos. 1–4 (K. 37, 39, 40 and 41) are orchestral and keyboard arrangements of sonata movements by other composers. The next three concertos (K. 107/1, 2 and 3), which are not numbered, are arrangements of piano sonatas by J. C. Bach (Op. 5, Nos. 2, 3, and 4, all composed by 1766). Based on handwriting analysis of the autographs they are believed to date from 1771 or 1772.Plath, Wolfgang. "Beiträge zur Mozart-Autographie I: Die Handschrift Leopold Mozarts". Mozart-Jahrbuch 1960/61 (Salzburg, 1962), pp. 82–117. Concerto No. 5, K. 175 from 1773 was his first real effort in the genre, and one that proved popular at the time. Concerto No. 6, K. 238 from 1776 is the first Mozart concerto proper to introduce new thematic material in the piano's first solo section. Concerto No. 7, K. 242 for three pianos and Concerto No. 8, K. 246 also date from 1776 and are generally not regarded as demonstrating much of an advance, although No. 7 is quite well known.
Nine months after No. 8, however, Mozart produced one of his early masterpieces, the "Jenamy" (formerly "Jeunehomme") concerto, No. 9, K. 271. This work shows a decisive advance in the organisation of the first movement, as well as demonstrating some irregular features, such as the dramatic interruption of the orchestral opening by the piano after only one-and-a-half bars. The final concerto Mozart wrote before the end of his Salzburg period was the well-known Concerto No. 10, K. 365 for two pianos: the presence of the second piano disturbs the "normal" structure of piano-orchestra interaction.
Finally, a fragment of a concerto for piano and violin, K. Anh. 56/315f exists that Mozart started in Mannheim in November 1778 for himself (piano) and Ignaz Fränzl (violin). The project was abandoned when the Elector, Charles Theodore moved the court and orchestra to Munich after succeeding to the Electorate of Bavaria in 1777, and Fränzl stayed behind.Mozart retained his links with the Mannheim musicians that he had established in his visits in 1777/1778, with one result being that his first great opera Idomeneo premiered in Munich in 1781: Charles Theodore commissioned it for a court carnival. For a biography of Fränzl, see , and for a discussion of the incomplete concerto including why it was not completed, see
Early Vienna concertos (1782–1783) About 18 months after he arrived in Vienna, in the Autumn of 1782, Mozart wrote a series of three concertos for his own use in subscription concerts. He did, however, write, in the spring of that year, a replacement rondo finale in D major, K. 382 for No. 5, a work that proved very popular (on October 19, 1782, he completed another rondo, in A major, K. 386, possibly intended as an alternative ending for No. 12, K. 414). This group of three concertos was described by Mozart to his father in a famous letter:
This passage points to an important principle about Mozart's concertos, that they were designed in the main to entertain the public rather than solely to satisfy some inner artistic urge.
These three concertos are all rather different from one another and are relatively intimate works despite the mock grandeur of the last one: indeed, arrangements exist for them for piano plus string quartet that lose little. The Piano Concerto No. 12, K. 414 in A major, the second of the series, is particularly fine: it is often described as "Tyrolean", and stands some comparison with the later A major concerto, K. 488. The last of these three, No. 13, K. 415, is an ambitious, perhaps even overambitious work, that introduces the first, military theme in a canon in an impressive orchestral opening: many consider the last movement the best. Like K. 414, it is paralleled by a later concerto in the same key, No. 21, K. 467.
Major Vienna concertos (1784–1786)
The next concerto, No. 14 (K. 449) in E major, ushers in a period of creativity that has certainly never been surpassed in piano concerto production. From February 1784 to March 1786, Mozart wrote no fewer than 11 masterpieces, with another (No. 25, K. 503) to follow in December 1786. The advance in technique and structure from the early Vienna examples is marked from the very first of this mature series.
Written for his pupil Barbara Ployer to play, K. 449 is the first instrumental work by Mozart that shows the strong influence of his operatic writing. The next, No. 15 (K. 450), shows a reversion to an earlier, galant style. No. 16 (K. 451) is a not very well known work (Hutchings appears not to have liked it particularly, although Girdlestone ranks it highly). The first movement is broadly "symphonic" in structure and marks a further advance in the interactions between piano and orchestra. Records show that he completed it only one week after the previous work (K. 450).
The next three concertos, No. 17 (K. 453), No. 18 (K. 456), and No. 19 (459), can be considered to form a group, as they all share certain features, such as the same rhythm in the opening (heard also in K. 415 and K. 451). K. 453 was written for Barbara Ployer and is famous in particular for its last movement. The next concerto, K. 456 in B, was for a long time believed to have been written for the blind pianist Maria Theresia von Paradis to play in Paris.According to Leopold Mozart's somewhat ambiguous letter of 13 February 1785 to his daughter. Paradis, however, was not in Paris in late 1784—the earliest that the score could reasonably have reached her, and the concerto he refers to might be another one. See main article on Maria Theresia von Paradis and Ullrich, H. 1946. "Maria Theresia Paradis and Mozart". Music & Letters 27, 224–233. Finally, K. 459, is sunny with an exhilarating finale.
The year 1785 is marked by the contrasting pair K. 466 (No. 20 in D minor) and K. 467 (No. 21 in C major), again written within the same month. These two works, one the first minor-key concertos Mozart wrote (both K. 271 and 456 have a minor-key second movement) and a dark and stormy work, and the other sunny, are among Mozart's most popular. The final concerto of the year, K. 482 (No. 22 in E major), is slightly less popular. Mozart is not known to have written cadenzas for these concertos.
In 1786, Mozart managed to write two more masterpieces in one month, March: the first was No. 23 in A major K. 488, one of the most consistently popular of his concertos, notable particularly for its poignant slow movement in F minor, the only work he wrote in the key. He followed it with No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, which Hutchings regards as his finest effort.Arthur Hutchings. A Companion to Mozart's Piano Concertos, Oxford University Press, 1948, p. 163 It is a dark and passionate work, made more striking by its classical restraint, and the final movement, a set of variations, is commonly called "sublime."Donald Francis Tovey. Essays in Musical Analysis, vol. III (Concertos), Oxford University Press, 1936, p. 46 The final work of the year, No. 25 in C major (K. 503), was the last of the regular series of concertos Mozart wrote for his subscription concerts. It is one of the most expansive of all classical concertos, rivaling Beethoven's fifth piano concerto.
Later Vienna concertos (1788–1791) The next work, K. 537 (the "Coronation"), completed in February 1788, has a mixed reputation and possibly is the revision of a smaller chamber concerto into a larger structure. Despite its structural problems, it remains popular. Two fragments of piano concertos, K. 537a and K. 537b, in D major and D minor respectively, were also probably begun in this month, although perhaps earlier. Finally, the last concerto, No. 27 (K. 595) was the first work from the last year of Mozart's life: it represents a return to form for Mozart in the genre. Its texture is sparse, intimate and even elegiac.
The Mozartian concept of the piano concerto