Mozart composed the first of a set of six sonatas for violin and piano in 1778.
The Sonata in G major, K. 301, consists of only two movements—an Allegro con spirito sonata movement and an Allegro finale. In fact, only the last sonata of the set, K. 306, has more than two movements. Chief among Mozart’s aims in composing these sonatas was achieving a greater balance between the two instruments by making the solo violin more independent.
The violin opens the work with a lovely melody in G major with a characteristic appoggiatura figure lending it a particular tenderness. The following second theme in the key of the dominant is livelier with its syncopated rhythm. Remarkably, both thematic sections are quite lengthy compared to the rest of the movement—the exposition itself extends to nearly half the movement and both themes occupy almost the same number of measures.
The Finale begins simply with an arching melody the rises up through triadic motion and then descends through the scale of the tonic key. During the central episode in G minor, the violin achieves its greatest independence from the piano. While the piano provides a delicate accompaniment of broken chords, the violin exclusively carries the melody throughout the section. The opening G major section then returns to round out the ternary structure of the movement. An energetic coda, with sweeping scales and arpeggios, brings the first of these violin sonatas to an exciting close.
Listen now as violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter plays this music for you:
