Piano Sonata No. 10 (Mozart)

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The work is considered one of Mozart's most popular piano sonatas, and has been featured in classical music-related films, such as Sparky's Magic Piano.

Mozart's autographed original manuscript of the sonata is held in the Jagiellonian Library, Kraków.


The sonata is in three movements:

  1. Allegro moderato
  2. Andante cantabile
  3. Allegretto

I: Allegro moderato[edit]

The first movement typically takes about five minutes to nine minutes to perform. The length of the movement depends largely on whether both repeats (the repeat of the exposition and the repeat of the development and recapitulation) are observed. The movement shows two clear major themes, which have been decorated by the use of ornamentation, as was typical of the time.

The movement is composed of an exposition, a development and a recapitulation.

The first subject is in tonic key of C major and modulates to the dominant, G major, for the exposition of the second subject. The development is more intense and contains wider modulations. In the recapitulation, the first subject is heard, again in C major. The music then modulates to G major, and then returns to C major for the recapitulation of the second subject in the tonic key.[1]

II: Andante cantabile[edit]

The second movement takes between five and seven minutes to perform. The very end of the movement which Mozart wrote was misplaced in the autograph; an F Major coda was added in the 1784 publication.

III: Allegretto[edit]

The third movement is the most energetic among the movements of the sonata. Performance times range from three to five minutes. Use of arpeggios is prevalent throughout the piece. Like the second movement, the last few bars were lost in the autograph as well.


Piano Sonata No. 10 In C Major

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External links[edit]