Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Works for Piano 4 Hands

Mozart’s piano works for four hands

In the history of the reception and interpretation of piano music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s works (1756–1791) present some of the most demanding questions for performers of every period and place. Their reception is inevitably intertwined with national musical histories, the development of local schools and the historical sensibilities of different cultures—Italian, French, German and others. The hermeneutic tradition teaches us that this results from the intersection of several dimensions: temporal distance (Zeitenabstand), the history of effects (Wirkungsgeschichte), historically effected consciousness (wirkungsgeschichtliches Bewusstsein) and the fusion of horizons (Horizontverschmelzung).

Within this general framework, the reception and interpretation of Mozart’s piano music have their own particular character, which can broadly be understood through two principal approaches. The first favours a philological reading: attention to a work’s historical and cultural circumstances and its formal characteristics leads to an interpretation that may be more rigorous, but risks becoming inflexible. The second takes account of its historical position while also considering the direction in which Mozart’s music seems to point.

Mozart died in 1791. Works fundamental to the development of German and European Romanticism appeared during his Salzburg years and around the end of his life: Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), Schiller’s Ode to Joy (1785–86) and On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), and the fragments of Novalis (1795–1800). Particularly in some of his late works, Mozart already looks beyond his own time, anticipating aspects of Romantic sensibility. In every page of his music one can perceive what, borrowing a Schlegelian expression, we might call a “fragment of the future”.

These considerations necessarily enter any discussion of the reception and interpretation of Mozart’s works, especially those of his final years. The pieces presented here by the Padovani–Mauro duo—who show themselves aware of this interpretative problem—are not necessarily his most “forward-looking” works.

The Sonatas in C major, K. 521, and F major, K. 497, belong to the same period. Both were written in 1786–87, years marked by two adverse developments. In the months following the “scandal” provoked by The Marriage of Figaro among aristocratic audiences, unsettled by a commoner’s mockery of a socially powerful figure, Mozart could not attract enough subscriptions for his projected concerts in 1786–87. This situation obliged him to try to restore his relationship with the public and his patrons. A second event must be added: his father’s death. These circumstances help us place the two works in context.

According to Piero Rattalino, the Sonata in C major represents a kind of escape from pain and depression, as well as an attempt to win back the public. At least on the surface, it seems to look towards earlier works, perhaps also because its main thematic motif recalls the finale of Sonata K. 330, composed in the early 1780s. Nevertheless, Mozart—about to write Don Giovanni and still close to the world of Figaro—succeeds in renewing a Rococo style that seems one of this sonata’s distinctive qualities.

The Sonata in F major shares the historical and emotional context of the C major work. It is a complex composition, almost a piano symphony, opening with a slow introduction, Adagio, followed by Allegro di molto, an Andante and a final Allegro. Its density lies in its polyphonic treatment, keyboard writing and formal choices.

The Five Variations in G major, K. 501, also date from this period. Written for the publisher Hoffmeister, the work is short and apparently simple, with the customary minor-key variation and a return to the theme after the fifth and final variation. These variations on an original theme, among the important works for piano duo, begin with a refined Andante, shaped by the expressive tension between F natural and F sharp and by interesting contrapuntal and imitative exchanges.

The first three variations have distinct rhythmic characters and a fascinating treatment of timbre, particularly in the second and third, which can suggest the comic world of Papageno. The fourth, in the minor key, forms an interlude in which the theme’s melodic structure is altered: syncopation, chromatic movement and dynamic contrasts create a particularly dark atmosphere. The fifth variation restores serenity—or, more precisely, clarity and brilliance—through its writing and repetitions. A concluding coda offers further brief harmonic explorations.

The Fantasia in F minor, K. 594 (1790), together with the Fantasia in F minor, K. 608, and the Andante in F major, K. 616, belongs to a group of three pieces written for a mechanical organ, probably commissioned by Count Deym. K. 594 is structured as an Adagio, followed by an Allegro and a final Adagio that returns to the expressive, meditative atmosphere of the opening. The other two works have different formal designs. The piece originated in practical, immediate needs during a period of financial difficulty, when Mozart was entering the final phase of his remarkable life and creative journey, which would still produce masterpieces such as The Magic Flute and the Requiem.

Enrico Padovani and Alessandra Mauro approach these works, close in date but varied in form, with the assurance and care characteristic of their interpretative style. Their continual search for bel suono enables them to create a coherent and particularly intense musical picture. Interpreting Mozart is always demanding: the clarity of the musical idea must be accompanied by choices that risk leading into the crowded territory of what has already been said and heard.

The experienced Padovani–Mauro duo skilfully avoids these risks, moving between freedom and rigour, exploring the score with care and profound sensitivity. They follow an interesting middle path between a rigidly philological reading and an excessively Romantic or sentimental approach.

Album Notes by Giacomo Fronzi. Original English translation by Pietro Carra; English revised for this edition.

Recording credits

Enrico Padovani and Alessandra Mauro, piano four hands. Recorded at Le Torri dell’Acqua, Budrio, Bologna, Italy, on 1–2 April 2017. Sound engineering and mastering: Luca Marazzi. Cover photograph: Damiano Rosa. Design, art direction and production: Osaka Mozart Association. Copyright in the recording and artwork: Osaka Mozart Association. ℗ and © Da Vinci Classics. DDD. Manufactured in Japan.

Special thanks to Giovanni Chessa, artistic director of the Stagione Musicale delle Torri dell’Acqua di Budrio.