In 1788, Mozart was nearing the end of his short but prolific life. Although he was suffering from financial struggle due to social change, he still wrote masterpieces for the keyboard. The public in Vienna began to focus on light entertainment music more than Mozart’s difficult stylistic music. He journeyed with a fellow freemason in hopes of finding a situation that he could earn commission on but returned with no success.
Sonata No. 15 in F major consists of three movements. Originally, the third movement, Rondo, was a stand alone piece written in 1786 and catalogued as K. 494. In 1788, Mozart wrote I. Allegro and II. Andante and incorporated a revised version of K. 494 as the third movement. All three movements are in the classical sonata allegro form. The first and third movements are in F major while the antante moves to B flat major. Below are two fabulous recordings of this challenging work. Both Mitsuko Uchida and Ingrid Haebler perform Sonata No. 15 beautifully. Their interpretations differ in tempo and certain stylistic musical choices, although both suitable for this piece.
Mitsuko Uchida
Ingrid Haebler
I was listening to an audiobook this weekend that mentioned Mozart's financial struggles! The book talked about the different ways composers could have made a career for themselves and how they often relied on patronage or freelance work. It's interesting to compare this to how composers make money today and in some ways, things haven't changed all that much.
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