Piano Sonata No. 8 (Mozart)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K. 310/300d, was written in 1778. The A minor sonata is the first of only two Mozart piano sonatas in a minor key (the other being No. 14 in C minor, K. 457). It was composed in the summer of 1778 around the time of his mothers death, one of the most tragic times of his life.^[1]

Background

Little is known about the precise circumstances surrounding the composition of the sonata, unlike the earlier Sonata in C major, K. 309/284b it was little mentioned in his correspondence.^[2] The manuscript which survives, was written using the same type of paper that was used for the Symphony in D major, K. 297/300a which Mozart purchased while in Paris.^[3]

Structure

The composition which typically takes around 22 minutes to perform is in three movements:

	Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor 1. Allegro maestoso 2. Andante cantabile con espressione 3. Presto performed by Randolph Hokanson
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1. Allegro maestoso, common time
2. Andante cantabile con espressione, F major, 3/4
3. Presto, 2/4

References

Notes

1. Anderson 1990, p. 2
2. Irving 1997, p. 62
3. Irving 1997, p. 64

Sources

• Anderson, Keith (1990). Mozart: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 (CD). Naxos Records. 8.550445.
• Irving, John (1997). Mozart's Piano Sonatas: Contexts, Sources, Style. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-49631-4.
• Jaffe, Jane Vial (2015). "Program Notes: Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 300d (K. 310)". Parlance Chamber Concerts.

External links

• Media related to Piano Sonata No. 8 (Mozart) at Wikimedia Commons
• Sonate in a KV 310 (300^d): Score and critical report (German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
• Piano Sonata No. 8: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• "Mozart - Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K.310/300d performed by Emil Gilels". Berlinzerberus (YouTube). 2012-10-09.
• Irving, John (2010). Understanding Mozart's Piano Sonatas. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7546-6769-8.
• Keefe, Simon P., ed. (2015). Mozart Studies 2. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-04423-4.
• Levin, Robert D. "Mozart and the Keyboard Culture of his time" (PDF). Bar-Ilan University.
• Moylan, Andrew L. (2014). Venerable Style, Form, and Avant-Garde in Mozart's Minor Key Piano Sonatas K. 310 and K. 457: Topic and Structure (M.Mus). University of Massachusetts Amherst.
• Thomas, Derek (2015). "The Formal Structure and Biographical Significance of Mozart's Sonata No. 8 K.310 Movement I Allegro Maestoso" (PDF). Belmont University.