Mozart Sonata in G, K283 (1st mvt)

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Introduction

Mozart composed his first six piano sonatas in late 1774 to early 1775, when he was the age of a modern college freshman. But these wonderful pieces are of course not the work of a student. At eighteen, Mozart was already a highly-experienced composer with a masterful and mature style of his own. The fifth sonata, in G major, is one of the most often played and studied of these early sonatas. Its sophisticated phrasing, rhythmic vitality, and engaging lyricism make it a perennial delight to play, and to hear.

Arthur Schnabel famously said that “Mozart is too easy for children and too difficult for adults.” Indeed, the modest technical difficulties and seemingly straightforward musical expression of pieces such as this one make it more approachable to younger players than, say, most of the Beethoven sonatas. But it is this very simplicity and purity that make performing Mozart on the piano such a challenge. The notes may be few in number, but every one counts. A successful performance hinges on mastering numerous small details while retaining a sense of the long lines that contain all this detail.

Instead of starting with reductions and gradually filling them in, as we normally do in these editions, we will take a slightly different approach with this sonata. Following the full score of the movement, we provide an extensive series of practise routines that will help you to master all of the technical and musical details from the beginning of your study. Then at the end, we consider the large-scale rhythmic structure of the movement’s exposition, using a reduction that shows the measure groups (phrase lengths) and hidden meter changes beneath the music’s surface detail. This reduction also serves as an aid to memorising the movement.

Working on details is of course essential in good piano practise, but it carries a certain risk as well. When we concentrate on small things, we tend to stop and try to fix every little mistake the moment it occurs, bringing the rhythm (and the phrase) to a stop. This may lead to an arhythmic stutter that can become a habit in practise, and an impediment to flow in performance. Our practising will be much more effective if we can isolate the difficult spots and repeat them in a deliberate manner within the order and regularity of a steady pulse. The practise routines that follow have been designed with this kind of practising in mind. By taking small sections, making simplifications where necessary, and creating loops and variations of different kinds, we can practice one phrase at a time with rhythmic continuity, and with enough variety to keep our concentration engaged.

To make it easier to navigate between the full score and the practise routines, we have added circled numbers to the full score that refer to specific sections in the practise routines. You may choose to work primarily from the full score, consulting the practise routines as needed, or work straight through the practise routines, returning to the full score from time to time to consolidate your work.

Resources and further reading For a complete, downloadable version of this walkthrough, please see From the Ground Up Edition (Click here if you already own it or click here to purchase it) Click here to view open domain editions for this work (external link). Click here to view introduction to the From the Ground Up series and an index of featured works. Click here to view Skeleton Practise series which serves as background reading with further information on concepts and the approach featured in From the Ground Up.