The exact circumstances that Mozart was living while composing the Sonata in C major, usually nicknamed "sonatina" or sonata "facile" or "semplice", are completely unknown. The only certainty we have in this respect is the fact that Wolfgang's brought it into his catalogue on June 26, 1788, adding in his own handwriting both the brief and enlightening description: "Sonata for beginners".
The same month, Mozart and Konstance decided to move to the outskirts of Vienna, and there they went taking their eldest son and their six-month-old daughter, Thérese, who will die ten days after the move. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, Mozart is going to compose his last three symphonies that year, in the surprising span of barely six weeks. Going a little further we could speculate that between one symphony and another Wolfgang composed the Sonatina in C major because among the composer's many virtues it was his enormous capacity for abstraction from the everyday world, which allowed him to write festive scores in moments of great personal pain.
Mozart's most elaborated sonatas, including the three "Parisian sonatas", had come to existence nearly ten years ago, and the last "autonomous" sonata (if the term fits), that is, those whose invention did not need rondos or allegros elaborated beforehand – or destined for other purposes –, dated from 1784. In my humble opinion, it is surprising that an author of that gigantic category, at that point of his life and in those circumstances, devoted his time and energy to the composition of a sonatina that, beyond its deliciousness, was intended for those who just gave their first steps on the keyboard.
That is what makes this little work not performed but as bis, following the original program of the pianist, and attacking either the first or the second movement. A happy exception is Daniel Barenboim's, who offers here a great complete rendition, apparently, in a recording with no audience.
Movements:
0:00 Allegro
3:01 Andante
6:44 Rondo
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