Mozart, last Sonata for piano, K 576

 
During the years that Mozart and Constance lived in Vienna after their marriage in 1782, the couple changed residence eleven times. Some of these moves had to be made in haste; others had to be made stealthily after the landlord had tired of demanding the rent. Although no one can explain it properly – given the many successes, that of Figaro, for example – Mozart's financial situation during his last years was marked by precariousness.

Chamber composer at last
After Gluck died in 1787, Mozart was able to access the position of court chamber composer, but the urgent economies of the Austrian treasury prevented him from being paid the same salary as his predecessor. He had to settle for 800 florins – as opposed to 2000 that Gluck received – which made him exclaim "too much for what I do, too little for what I could do". Sure, he had been hired only to compose dances for the annual balls in the Redoutensaal, the concert and dance hall.

A long journey

So when in April 1789 his friend Prince Lichnowsky invited him to Potsdam, to the court of King Frederick William II of Prussia, Wolfgang immediately embarked on the long journey that included Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin, cities whose courts would take advantage of the maestro's presence to commission him for some works. And he was right, for no sooner had he arrived in Prague than the director of the Opera commissioned a new work from him. The commission: 1,000 guilders, not bad.

It was a good start. But that was all. Or almost.

Frederica Louise of Prussia

Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, Potsdam

In Dresden, he played before the Elector Frederick Augustus, who presented him with a golden snuffbox containing a hundred florins. In Leipzig he improvised on the Bach organ in the Church of the Tomasschulle... and in Berlin, the reception was rather discreet.
But at the court residence in Potsdam, he played before the king, who – through his "royal music director" – kindly commissioned six string quartets from him, and some compositions for his daughter Frederica, an enthusiastic keyboard player.

There were no opera commissions nor offering of positions. Three months later, Mozart returned to Vienna with a hundred florins.

Mozart's last sonata

It is believed that the Sonata K. 576 in D major, the last one composed by Mozart, may have been one of the pieces that Frederick William requested for his daughter. It is dated July 1789 but was not printed until 1805. Although Mozart's autograph includes the legend "leichte Klaviersonate" (easy sonata), it is a very difficult piece, which raises doubts as to whether Wolfgang composed it with the king's daughter in mind, or, failing that, some other little princess. If so, it is the only one he wrote for that purpose.

The faultless rendition is by the Japanese pianist Mitsuko Uchida.
(A brief guide, following the video.)

According to some, it is the most difficult sonata of all those written by Mozart. But the technical problems do not arise from the thematic material, lively and agile, but from the careful contrapuntal treatment, inspired perhaps by the visit to Leipzig and Wolfgang's reunion with the still latent figure of JS Bach.

As was typical of the time, the work is in three movements, in a standard fast, slow, fast order:

00  Allegro  Markedly contrapuntal in character (the left hand repeats what the right hand has done), the main theme reappears continuously, subject to imitation (for example 0:42). At 1:01 a sub-theme appears, drawn from the opening material. 1:25 Da capo: the entire first section is repeated. 3:35 Recapitulation and development: a concentrated study of counterpoint.

5:06  Adagio  In the dominant key of A major, a clean and clear melody, at times softly veiled by chromatic runs. 

10:20  Allegretto  A very lively rondo, almost as contrapuntal as the first movement. Particularly novel is the canon "in fifths" at 12:31. The movement ends in complete calm.