Mozart: Piano Trio in B-flat major, K. 502
By 1786, Mozart relished a rare period of professional security; having just completed his six “Haydn” quartets the previous year, he premiered his miraculous The Marriage of Figaro in May, and still penned three of his greatest piano concertos and three mature trios. In the trios, Mozart achieved an unprecedented independence of voices that was far ahead of the “accompanied sonata” -style piano trios of his time, elevating the role of the string instruments and laying the groundwork for Beethoven’s work in the genre. But in Mozart’s mystifying, paradoxical fashion, he somehow marries the newfound importance of the strings with brilliant, concerto-style piano writing and still preserves his crystalline melodic clarity. In the B-flat major Trio’s effervescent Allegro, Mozart mimics Haydn by recycling his first theme in place of a would-be second theme, creating space for the surprise of an entirely new theme in the development — a reminder of the flexibility of sonata form in the right hands. A spellbinding, pleading Larghetto follows, often voiced by the piano alone and again revealing Mozart’s concerto proclivities. The concluding Allegretto frequently dips into a “learned” contrapuntal style, but is leavened in all voices by Mozart’s inimitable grace and wit.
© Graeme Steele Johnson for the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
By 1786, Mozart relished a rare period of professional security; having just completed his six “Haydn” quartets the previous year, he premiered his miraculous The Marriage of Figaro in May, and still penned three of his greatest piano concertos and three mature trios. In the trios, Mozart achieved an unprecedented independence of voices that was far ahead of the “accompanied sonata” -style piano trios of his time, elevating the role of the string instruments and laying the groundwork for Beethoven’s work in the genre. But in Mozart’s mystifying, paradoxical fashion, he somehow marries the newfound importance of the strings with brilliant, concerto-style piano writing and still preserves his crystalline melodic clarity. In the B-flat major Trio’s effervescent Allegro, Mozart mimics Haydn by recycling his first theme in place of a would-be second theme, creating space for the surprise of an entirely new theme in the development — a reminder of the flexibility of sonata form in the right hands. A spellbinding, pleading Larghetto follows, often voiced by the piano alone and again revealing Mozart’s concerto proclivities. The concluding Allegretto frequently dips into a “learned” contrapuntal style, but is leavened in all voices by Mozart’s inimitable grace and wit.
© Graeme Steele Johnson for the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival