Mozart
Violin Sonata No. 32, B flat Major, K.454
1. Largo - Allegro 2. Andante (7:37) 3. Allegretto (15:51)
Gyorgy Pauk, violin and Petr Frankl, piano
In every instance, whether on published title pages or, in the instance of the later sonatas, Mozart's own entries in his own thematic catalog, the 26 sonatas for violin and piano are listed as being for piano with the accompaniment of violin. This clearly illustrates a presumed dominance on the part of the piano, the contradiction of which is one of the marked characteristics of the sonatas composed in the 1780s. With the exception of the last, K. 547 in F, composed as a beginner's work complementing the "easy" Piano Sonata in C, K. 545, the sonatas composed in the 1780s attain not only greater equality between the two instruments, but a new unity of thematic material. Of no sonata is this more true than the B flat Sonata, which in the words of Alfred Einstein is "by far" Mozart's best contribution to the repertoire. Einstein goes on to suggest that that one cannot conceive of any more perfect alternation between the two instruments than that of the first Allegro," going on to praise the central Andante (originally marked adagio) for its perfect fusion of "feeling and brilliance." The sonata was composed in April 1784, being entered in his newly-commenced catalog on the 21st. Given the detail that follows, the date is clearly inaccurate, as the sonata was by no means complete by April 21. Thanks to a letter of April 24 from Mozart to his father, the genesis of the work is known: "We have here at the moment the famous Strinascacchi [Rigina Strinascacchi, a highly talented young violinist who had studied at the Pietà in Venice], a very good violinist; she plays with lots of taste and sensitivity. Right now I am composing a sonata which we are going to play together at her Academy [concert] next Thursday in the theater." According to Mozart's wife Constanze, the composer had not written down his own part by the time of the concert, playing from memory. The veracity of the anecdote is confirmed by the autograph manuscript, now housed in Stockholm, since the keyboard part is clearly an addition to the score, being written in a different color ink. The sonata was published in Vienna by Torricella in August the same year, the publisher reminding prospective purchasers that it had been played by Strinascacchi and Mozart "to great applause."