Mozart: Violin Sonatas, K. 454 And K. 481

Description

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Violin Sonatas Vol.4Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburgin 1756, the son of a court musician who, in the year of his youngest child'sbirth, published an influential book on violin-playing. Leopold Mozart rose tooccupy the position of Vice-Kapellmeister to the Archbishop of Salzburg, butsacrificed his own creative career to that of his son, in whom he detectedsigns of precocious genius. With the indulgence of his patron, he was able toundertake extended concert tours of Europe in which his son and elder daughterNannerl were able to astonish audiences. The boy played both the keyboard andthe violin and could improvise and soon write down his own compositions.The childhood that had brought Mozart signalsuccess was followed by a less satisfactory period of adolescence, largely inSalzburg under the patronage of a new and less sympathetic Archbishop. Like hisfather, Mozart found opportunities far too limited at home, while chances oftravel were now restricted. In 1777, when leave of absence was not granted, hegave up employment in Salzburg to seek a future elsewhere, but neither Mannheimnor Paris, both musical centres of some importance, had anything for him. HisMannheim connections, however, brought a commission for an opera in Munich in1781, but after its successful staging he was summoned by his patron to Vienna.There Mozart's dissatisfaction with his position resulted in a quarrel with theArchbishop and dismissal from his service.The last ten years of Mozart's life were spentin Vienna in precarious independence of both patron and immediate paternaladvice, a situation aggravated by an imprudent marriage. Initial success in theopera-house and as a performer was followed, as the decade went on, byincreasing financial difficulties. By the time of his death in December 1791,however, his fortunes seemed about to change for the better, with the successof the German opera Die Zauberflote (TheMagic Flute), and the possibility of increased patronage.Mozart's sonatas for violin and keyboard spana period of some twenty-1ive years. His earliest attempts at the form were madeduring his first extended tour of Europe. Four of these early sonatas werepublished in Paris in 1764, two as Opus 1and two as Opus 2, and a furtherset of six, Opus 3, was publishedin London the following year. There followed another set of six sonatas, Opus 4, written in The Hague in 1766 andpublished there and in Amsterdam in the same year. Mozart only returned to theform twelve years later. During his stay in Mannheim in 1777 and 1778 hecompleted four sonatas, to which he added a further two in Paris in the earlysummer of the latter year, publishing the set in Paris as Opus 1. Another group of six sonatas waspublished in Vienna in 1781. This included a sonata written in Mannheim andanother perhaps written in Salzburg. The other four of the set, which waspublished as Opus 2, were writtenin the summer of 1781 in Vienna. The four remaining comp1ete