Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(1756-1791) was born in Salzburg on January 27, 1756. Early on, he could experience many different European musical styles through a concert tour with his family, making him incorporate various classical musical element of the 18th century into his own music style. Mozart wrote such as Chamber music, Concertos, Symphonies, Operas, and Keyboard music.
The origin of the sonata is from the Latin word 'Sonare', meaning "sound" and is derived from the Italian word 'Suonare'. "Sonata"indicat -es instrumental music in a multi-movement, and the first movement of classical instrumental music, including sonata, is mostly composed in sonata form. The sonata form consists of <Exposition-Development-Recapitulation>, and is the most important musical form of classical instrumental music. Mozart composed 18 piano sonatas, which are divided into three periods depending on the time of composition. The first period includes six works (K.279-284) written in Munich in 1775, and seven works (K.309-311, K.331-333) composed in Paris in 1777-1778, and five songs (K.457, 533, 545, 576) were completed in Vienna in 1784-1789. Mozart's piano sonatas were generally light, bright, and had many works of joyful characters, and only few sonatas with heavy, dark, and tragic contents.
Mozart Sonata K.457 is one of two works composed in minor key, and it was composed in Vienna on October 14, 1784. The work was dedicated to Mozart's disciple, 'Therese von Trattner'. The song is characterized by contrast of strength and weakness, the use of chromatic melodies, and counterpoint techniques. The following year, Mozart composed the same tune Fantasia K.475 in c minor for use in sonata overtures.
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate K.457 through to see if there is various musical elements and characteristics. The analysis will contain the form and structure of this work, the composition of each movement, melody, harmony, and rhythm.
The first movement is a typical sonata and consists of a minor composition, and the first theme is intense, grand, but the second theme is light, and has a feminine character. The contrast between the movement of the melody and the dramatic semiconductor in the wide octave range is darker and stronger than Mozart's other piano sonatas. The second movement is a slow tempo in the form of five parts rondo and has the composition in E♭Major. The theme melody of A changes and repeats through decorations, chromatic melodies, and rhythm expansion in the work. The monody of topic A does not sound monotonous due to the strong contrast of the modulation, the change of theme and the dynamic. The third movement is divided into components a and b with opposite characteristics in topic A in the form of five parts rondo. a is a syncopation monody melody, and b is a repetition of a strong octave sound pattern and flows with tension.
Through the analysis of Mozart's piano sonata K457, the current study found that the musical characteristics of the work K.457 include the dramatic contrast of counterpoint techniques and imitations. This study also figured out the use of a wide range of notes through octaves, chromatic melodies, harmony, and delicate dynamic in his sonatas. In his music, classical music styles from the 16th-century Baroque style to the 18th-century classical music style were written, and chromatic harmony, a characteristic of romantic music in the 19th century, was also found. Furthermore, Mozart seemed to connect the music of the 16th-century Baroque period and the 19th-century Romantic period. The present study will be of great help to students studying Mozart's sonatas and the musicians who play the works.