This book is the first truly comprehensive analysis of the first movements ever attempted. The beginning of the book, devoted to the evolution of Mozart's concertos, provides a discussion of the search by North German composers (including members of the Bach family) for a concerto form that would give more prominence to solo instruments, a critical element in the development of the extended aria. Against this background, the author then discusses the evolution of Mozart's concertos in terms of the six early works based on Johann Christian Bach's London Galant form, the innovative principles and methods present in the seven "Melodic" concertos, and the absolute departure from both Galant and Melodic works evident in the last four concertos, which are truly symphonic, differing from all of Mozart's previous concertos "in scale, texture and structure, and employing a different method of treating thematic material". The second section of the book, a detailed, lucid, and stimulating exposition of all the first movements, discusses Mozart's compositional technique and his conception of the purpose of concerto composition.

This guide to Mozart's two most popular piano concertos--the D minor, K. 466, and the C major, K. 467 (the so-called "Elvira Madigan")--presents the historical background of the works, placing them within the context of Mozart's compositional and performance activities at a time when his reputation as both composer and pianist was at its peak. The special nature of the concerto, as both a form and genre, is explored through a selective survey of some of the approaches that various critics have taken in discussing Mozart's concertos. The concluding chapter discusses a wide range of issues of interest to modern performers.

A celebration and exploration of a monumental achievement

Mozart's piano concertos stand alongside his operas and symphonies as his most frequently performed and best loved music. They have attracted the attention of generations of musicologists who have explored their manifold meanings from a variety of viewpoints. In this study, John Irving brings together the various strands of scholarship surrounding Mozart's concertos including analytical approaches, aspects of performance practice and issues of compositional genesis based on investigation of manuscript and early printed editions. Treating the concertos collectively as a repertoire, rather than as individual works, the first section of the book tackles broad thematic issues such as the role of the piano concerto in Mozart's quasi-freelance life in late eighteenth-century Vienna, the origin of his concertos in earlier traditions of concerto writing; eighteenth-century theoretical frameworks for the understanding of movement forms, subsequent historical shifts in the perception of the concerto's form, listening strategies and performance practices. This is followed by a 'documentary register' which proceeds through all 23 original works, drawing together information on the source materials. Accounts of the concertos' compositional genesis, early performance history and reception are also included here, drawing extensively on the Mozart family correspondence and other contemporary reports. Drawing together and synthesizing this wealth of material, Irving provides an invaluable reference source for those already familiar with this repertoire.

Classic of music criticism provides detailed studies of 23 of Mozart's piano concertos, offering 417 musical examples and authoritative information on the works' form, tone, style, and balance.

Mozart’s Piano Concertos, especially those composed during the years 1784-’91, are still held in high esteem, two centuries later, by both amateur music-lovers and professional musicians. Strangely enough, only very few comprehensive studies exist on this remarkable section of Mozart’s output. The present study, first published in German in a slightly abridged form, deals with Mozart’s evolution as a composer of piano concertos; sheds light on the connections between the concertos and other fields of creative activity, as well as on those with other composers of his time. Finally, attention is paid to problems of performance practice. The author, born in 1914, emeritus professor of Utrecht University and former chairman of the Zentralinstitut für Mozart-Forschung, Salzburg, has been involved with the subject of Mozart’s concertos for about 60 years.