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Encyclopedia > Piano Concerto No. 20 (Mozart)
Mozart Piano Concertos
Number: 20
Köchel number: 466
Key: D minor
Instrumentation: Piano and orchestra
Date of composition: Completed 10 February 1785

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K 466 was written in 1785. As was common with his concertos, it is three movements and scored for orchestra with the addition of the timpani which contributes greatly in creating the dark and brooding nature of this work. Image File history File linksMetadata Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart_1. ... February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IPA: , baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. ... 1785 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... In music, a movement is a large division of a larger composition or musical form. ... A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ...

  1. Allegro
  2. Romanze
  3. Allegro assai rondo

A few days after the first performance, the composer's father, Leopold, visiting in Vienna, wrote to his daughter Nannerl about her brother's recent success: [I heard] an excellent new piano concerto by Wolfgang, on which the copyist was still at work when we got there, and your brother didn't even have time to play through the rondo because he had to oversee the copying operation.[1] The first two measures of Mozarts Sonata XI, which indicates the tempo as Andante grazioso and the metronome marking as = 120. (Metronome markings were not used in Mozarts day. ... Romanza redirects here. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a composer, music teacher and violinist. ... Maria Anna Mozart (30 July 1751-29 October 1829), nicknamed Nannerl Mozart. ...


It is written in the key of D minor, which held great poignance for Mozart. Some of his most emotional works, such as the Requiem, a Kyrie and the dark opera Don Giovanni, are all in that key. In music theory, the key identifies the tonic triad, the chord, major or minor, which represents the final point of rest for a piece, or the focal point of a section. ... D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B-flat, C♯, and D (harmonic minor scale). ... The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in 1791. ... Kyrie is the vocative case of the Greek word κύριος (kyrios - lord) and means O Lord; it is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called Kyrie eleison. ... Don Giovanni (K.527) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. ...


The young Ludwig van Beethoven admired this concerto and kept it in his repertoire. He wrote a set of cadenzas for it that are used today. Another great German composer Johannes Brahms also wrote his own set of cadenzas although most pianists today also improvised these versions and developed interesting cadenzas of their own. 1820 portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler Beethoven redirects here. ... A cadenza is usually now taken to mean a portion of a concerto in which the orchestra stops playing, leaving the soloist to play alone in free time (without a strict, regular pulse) and can be written or improvised, depending on what the composer specifies. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...


The first movement starts off the concerto in the dark home key of D minor with the strings restlessly but quietly building up to a full forte. The theme was quickly taken up by the piano soloist and developed throughout the long movement. A slightly brighter mood does exist in the second theme but this theme never becomes jubilant. The timpani further heightens the tension in the coda before the cadenza. The movement rounds out on a quiet note, with the discontent seemingly not very far at hand.


The romantic-sounding 'Romanze' second movement begins brightly with a strong B-flat major melody which is graceful and bold. A contrasting darker section toys with the minor key (G minor) although the earlier theme is brought in again expectantly towards the end of the movement. It is a seven-part Rondo (ABACABA). B-flat major is a major scale based on B-flat, consisting of the pitches B-flat, C, D, E-flat, F, G, A, and B-flat. ...


The final rondo movement begins with the solo piano rippling upward in the home key before the full orchestra replies with a furious section. (This piano "rippling" is known as the Mannheim Rocket and is a string of eighth notes (d-f-a-d-f) followed by a quarter note (a). A second melody is touched upon by the piano where the mood is still dark but strangely restless. A contrasting cheerful melody in F major ushers in not soon after, introduced by the orchestra before the solo piano rounds off the lively theme. A series of sharp piano chords snaps the bright melody and the beginning passages in D minor on solo piano is heard again, taken up by full orchestra and thereafter follows the same format as above, taking a momentary pause into introducing the customary cadenza. After the cadenza, the mood clears considerably and the bright happy melody is taken up this time by the winds. The solo piano repeats the theme before a full orchestral passage develops the passage and thereby rounding up the concerto with a jubilant D major finish. F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, Bâ™­, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature consists of one flat. ... A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ...


The tradition of the heavy brass and lower strings headbanging during the final movement of this began during a performance at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in 1977 and has been preserved at every performance since. Headbangers in action, at DarkLights club Omega in Johannesburg, South Africa Headbanging is a type of dance which involves violently shaking the head in time with music, most commonly heavy metal music, even though similar dances have been performed along other types of music for a long time (to... Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music or RNCM is a conservatoire in Manchester, England. ...

Contents

Notes

  1. ^ Steinberg (1998, 304)

References

  • Girdlestone, C. M. Mozart's Piano Concertos. Cassell, London.
  • Hutchings, A. A Companion to Mozart's Piano Concertos, Oxford University Press.
  • Mozart, W. A. Piano Concertos Nos. 17-22 in full score. Dover Publications, New York.
  • Steinberg, M. The Concerto: A Listener's Guide, Oxford (1998)

External links

  • BBC Discovering Music (browse for .ram file for this work)

Media

  • Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K 466 - 1. Allegro ( file info) — play in browser (beta)
  • Problems playing the files? See media help.
Piano Concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Childhood Arrangements: No. 1 F Major K. 37 | No. 2 B flat Major K. 39 | No. 3 D Major K. 40 | No 4 G Major K. 41 | Three Concertos after J.C. Bach K. 107
Salzburg Concertos: No. 5 D Major K. 175 | No. 6 B flat Major K. 238 | No. 8 C Major K. 246 | No. 9 E flat Major K. 271 "Jeunehomme"
Concertos for Multiple Pianos: No. 7 F Major K. 242 for 3 pianos | No. 10 E flat Major K. 365 for 2 pianos
Early Vienna Concertos: No. 11 F Major K. 413 | No. 12 A Major K. 414 | No. 13 C Major K. 415
Major Vienna Concertos: No. 14 E flat Major K. 449 | No. 15 B flat Major K. 450 | No. 16 D Major K. 451 | No. 17 G Major K. 453 | No. 18 B flat Major K. 456 | No. 19 F Major K. 459 | No. 20 D Minor K. 466 | No. 21 C Major K. 467 | No. 22 E flat Major K. 482 | No. 23 A Major K. 488 | No. 24 C Minor K. 491 | No. 25 C Major K. 503
Later Concertos: No. 26 D Major K. 537 "Coronation" | No. 27 B flat Major K. 595


 

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