Piano Concerto No. 13 in C major, K. 415

Program notes

About the Work

When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart settled in Vienna as a freelance musician, his best way of earning money and a name was to appear as soloist in his own piano concertos. In the winter of 1782 to 1783 he wrote a set of three for his subscription concerts: K. 413 in F, K. 414 in A and this one in C, which he himself called the third of them. They were the first concertos he composed for those concerts.

The C major is the grandest of the three. Its orchestra includes trumpets and timpani alongside the oboes, bassoons, horns and strings, and the opening has a military swagger. Mozart played it at the academy (a benefit concert for himself) that he gave at the Burgtheater in late March 1783. The date usually given is 23 March, although a newspaper report of the time implies the 22nd. Emperor Joseph II was in the audience and, contrary to his habit, stayed for the whole evening. The same concert included the new ‘Haffner’ Symphony, which closes tonight’s programme.

Commentators have sometimes been cool about this concerto, complaining that the piano’s material in the first movement does not quite live up to the promise of the orchestral opening. The finale is the most unusual part of the piece. Mozart had first thought of a slow movement in C minor, set the idea aside in favour of a lighter one in F major, and then found a place for the minor-key music inside the finale instead.

The concerto lasts about twenty-five minutes.

What to Listen For

I. Allegro. The orchestra begins quietly, with the violins entering one after another in imitation, and builds to a full, festive tutti with trumpets and drums. When the piano comes in, it brings its own, more decorative ideas. Listen for a rising unison figure, like a rocket going up, that recurs in the closing sections.

II. Andante. A simple song in F major, with the melody spun out in long, ornamented lines by the soloist.

III. Allegro. A cheerful rondo in 6/8 time that is twice stopped in its tracks by a short Adagio in C minor, as if a scene from a serious opera had wandered into a comedy. After the last return of the rondo tune the music does not build to a loud finish. It thins out, scatters and ends pianissimo.