It seems surprising that despite his early concert career as a keyboard prodigy, Mozart only composed his first cycle of piano sonatas (K. 279 to 284) at the age of 18, in Salzburg and Munich in 1774/75. Before that, he had primarily focused on 'accompanied sonatas' for keyboard instruments such as violin or cello, which we would now call violin sonatas or piano trios.
During his Italian journeys, his work as an opera composer took center stage; in Salzburg, he worked mainly as a violinist and orchestral composer. From 1772 onward, he led the court orchestra as concertmaster, playing first violin. We likely owe his first six piano sonatas to the fact that he could only perform outside the court.
In the summer of 1774, Mozart received the prestigious invitation to compose the opera buffa 'La finta giardiniera' for the Munich Carnival. Since the Bavarian Elector had admired him as a virtuoso harpsichordist since his childhood, Mozart seized the opportunity to further solidify this impression. For his upcoming trip to Munich, he wrote a cycle of piano sonatas, which he completed on the banks of the Isar River with the so-called "Dürnitz Sonata," K. 284. These works are considered quintessential concert sonatas and were referred to in the Mozart family as "the difficult sonatas."
Also noteworthy is the Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 310, from 1778, Mozart's first sonata in a minor key. With its passionate, even dramatic, character, it occupies a unique position. The then 22-year-old Mozart composed it with tremendous compositional rigor, clear notation, and innovative sound effects during his journey to Paris. The genesis of this three-movement work is often linked to the death of his mother, who died in Paris during this trip.
Also remarkable is the Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 310, from 1778, Mozart's first sonata in a minor key. With its passionate, even dramatic, character, it occupies a unique position. The then 22-year-old Mozart composed it with tremendous compositional rigor, clear musical notation, and innovative sound effects during his trip to Paris. The genesis of this three-movement work is often linked to the death of his mother, who died in Paris during this journey.
Mozart valued a light touch when playing the piano; accents should be marked with the hand rather than the arm, and passages should flow "like oil." This playing style not only fuels his early sonatas but also mature works such as the C minor double set of Fantasia and Sonata, K. 475 and 457.
The genesis of Sonata No. 16 in C major (Sonata facile, K. 545), which Mozart composed in Vienna in 1788, is also interesting. It was initially titled "A Little Piano Sonata for Beginners" and then, in the first edition of 1805, simply "Sonata facile." Presumably, Mozart hoped to generate income by selling works for beginners, as he was experiencing financial difficulties at the time. However, he did not publish the sonata during his lifetime. He sent the work, along with other compositions, to his sister on August 2, 1788, in one of his last letters. It was not until 1805, fourteen years after his death, that the sonata was first published by a Viennese publishing house.