Thomas plays W.A. Mozart – Sonata in C Major KV 309 1st Movement, Allegro Con Spirito

Starting composing at the age of five, Mozart’s piano sonatas offer snapshots of possibly the greatest musical talent of all time. Consistently praised for his even technique,  musical taste and detached playing style, Mozart undeniably pointed to the direction pianism was headed in the near future.

His creativity was not independent of his personal life for both the people and the places into which these works were born had significant impact on his compositions.But in order to perceive Mozart , we must forget all music and listen his sonatas in a new manner. For each has its own story to tell.

Sonata no. 7, structured in 3 movements (Allegro con spirito, Andante un poco adagio, and Allegretto grazioso)  was composed for Rose, the 13 year old daughter of Christian Cannabich, one of Mannheim most important composers.  “I want to write it just to match the character of Rosa”, he wrote in a letter of December 6th 1777.

He composed it during a journey to Mannheim  and Paris, in 1777-78. Mozart praised Rosa’s playing and composed this sonata that begins with bold, orchestral statement, followed immediately by a light, lyrical passage. This confident and classy movement abounds in contrasts.

The movement, as a whole, has a certain flexible liveliness and openness made possible by the regularity of the larger structure. Mozart’s fatherLeopold wrote that it was “a strange composition. It has some of the Mannheim style in it, but not so much as to spoil your good taste”.