Mozart Piano Sonata No.3 in B-flat Major, KV.281

W. A. Mozart (1756 – 1791) - Piano Sonata No.3 in B-flat Major, KV. 281

Born in Salzburg, Mozart began composing at the tender age of 5, and over the course of the next 30 years, produced over 600 symphonic, chamber, choral, and solo works that became masterworks in the classical music repertoire. However, the ultimate pinnacle of his genius is often said to be his operas. The effortless ability to create vibrant characters, playful dialogues, lyrical melodies, colorful orchestrations - all his talents come together in this genre to bring alive stories that are full of charm, humor, wit, and drama.

In 1775, the 18 years-old Mozart travelled to Munich for the production of his opera La finta giardiniera. During this visit, he wrote his first 5 piano sonatas, virtuosic works that are full of youthful energy, humor, and joy. The Third Piano Sonata, in particular, is like a mini opera unto itself. Immediately from the opening 4 bars, the lyrical rising triplet motif introduces a character walking on stage and posing to herself a romantic question, which is answered surprisingly by the energetic, bouncing chords of the tutti orchestra. The question is then repeated more intimately in a piano dynamic an octave lower, before launching into a brilliant theme of rising and falling scales. The second theme reveals a charming and perhaps naïve character with its playful staccato repetitions of the high C. This elegant motif is similar to that used for Papageno’s character in Mozart’s later opera Die Zauberflöte. On the third statement of this motif, the melody again takes off in a sequence of dazzling thirty-second notes, before concluding in a joyful and humorous coda.

The second movement is a romantic aria, specifically marked Andante amoroso. The orchestra sets the scene with a long opening phrase that descends from the flutes down to the lower strings and extends to the rest of the orchestra before a bar of of silence invites the soprano to enter and begin her pleading, tender love song. The aria is full of contrasting emotional expressions from passionate longing to timid uncertainty, as if the character is contemplating the torments of her heart and desires.

The final movement brings a simple, childlike joy with its cheery, carefree, and witty gavotte. The elegant dance theme is contrasted briefly by a darker grave g minor section full of dissonances and large leaps, and a lyrical romantic E-flat major section that recalls the amoroso second movement. Mozart creates comical moments throughout the movement using two unexpected pianissimo vorschlag notes at the end of each main theme as if the character is poking fun of himself in a joking echo.