W.A.

MOZART’S PIANO CONCERTO

NO.27 IN Bb, K. 595

THE COMPOSER:

Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,

more known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is an
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Austrian composer, widely recognized as one of
the greatest composers in the history of Western
music. he wrote in all the musical genres of his
day and excelled in every one. His taste, his
command of form, and his range of expression
have made him seem the most universal of all
composers; yet, it may also be said that his
music was written to accommodate the specific
tastes of particular audiences.
Opera was his favorite form, but he also poured
out am incredible number of great works for
piano, voice orchestra, and chamber groups. He
was a gifted and active pianist, violinist, and
conductor.
Mozart’s music is a true picture of the man
himself. It ranges from a mood of simple, almost
slapstick, humor to mood of noble tragedy; from
peasantlike simplicity to elegant brilliance; from dance tunes to the most complex of musical
forms, and from dainty court music to heroic work that are full of the spirit of freedom and the
brotherhood of man.
Mozart’s short life-he died at the age of thirty-five–began in the Austrian town of Salzburg. His
father, Leopold Mozart, a violinist in the orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg, was a famous
teacher and composer. Mozart’s sister Maria Anna was a talented pianist who participated in the
first tours made by Mozart and his father.
Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Mozart began to study music at the
age of four, and in two years was a skilled performer on harpsicord, organ and violin. Already
competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before
European royalty. At 17, he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless
and travelled in search of a better position, always composing abundantly. While visiting Vienna
in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he
achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many
of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was
largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his early death have been
much mythologized.

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INSPIRATION:

STORY OF HOW HE COMPOSED THE PIECE:

KÖCHEL CATALOGUE
For unambiguous identification of works by Mozart, a Köchel catalogue number is used.
This is a unique number assigned, in regular chronological order, to every one of his known
works. A work is referenced by the abbreviation "K." followed by this number. The first edition of
the catalogue was completed in 1862 by Ludwig von Köchel. It has since been repeatedly
updated, as scholarly research improves knowledge of the dates and authenticity of individual
works. The K. number not only is a clue to whether a piece is early or late Mozart but also helps
in another way. Where two or more Mozart works are in the same key, the Köchel numbers help
to tell them apart. For instance, Mozart wrote two piano concertos in C major in his later years;
one is known as K. 467, the other as K. 503. (Some of the numbers were changed by the
musical scholar Alfred Einstein in a revised catalogue issued in 1937.)

HISTORY:
The manuscript is dated 5 January 1791. However, Alan Tyson's analysis of the paper on which
Mozart composed the work indicated that Mozart used this paper between December 1788 and
February 1789, which implies composition well before 1791. Simon Keefe has written that the
composition of the work dates from 1788. By contrast, Wolfgang Rehm [de] has stated that
Mozart composed this concerto in late 1790 and early 1791. Cliff Eisen has discussed the
controversy over the time of composition in his review of the published facsimile of the score.

PREMIERE:
The work followed by some years the series of highly successful concertos Mozart wrote for his
own concerts, and by the time of its premiere, Mozart was no longer so prominent a performer
on the public stage. The concerto may have been first performed at a concert on 4 March 1791
in Jahn's Hall by Mozart and the clarinetist Joseph Beer.[3] If so, this was Mozart's last
appearance in a public concert, as he took ill in September 1791 and died on 5 December 1791.
Another possibility is that it was premiered by Mozart's pupil Barbara Ployer on the occasion of
a public concert at the Palais Auersperg in January 1791.

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MUSIC:
The work is scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, solo piano and strings, which
makes it thinner than Mozart's other late concertos, all of which except for No. 23
have trumpet and timpani.
It has the following three movements:

I. Allegro
II. Larghetto in E♭ major
III. Allegro
Although all three movements are in a major key, minor keys are suggested, as is evident from
the second theme of the first movement (in the dominant minor), as well as the presence of a
remote minor key in the early development of that movement and of the tonic minor in the
middle of the Larghetto.
Another interesting characteristic of the work is its rather strong thematic integration of the
movements, which would become ever more important in the nineteenth century. The principal
theme of the Larghetto, for instance, is revived as the second theme of the final movement (in
measure 65). The principal theme for the finale was also used in Mozart's song "Sehnsucht
nach dem Frühling" (also called "Komm, lieber Mai"), K. 596, which immediately follows this
concerto in the Köchel catalogue.
Mozart wrote down his cadenzas for the first and third movements.
Simon Keefe has discussed the concerto in detail, with emphasis on the distinctive character
and experiments in style of the concerto compared to Mozart's other concerti in this genre.

THE PIECE:
Instrumentation:
 Flute
 2 oboes
 2 bassoons
 2 horns
 Solo piano
 Strings
Movements:
1. Allegro
2. Larghetto in Eb Major
3. Allegro