The piano concertos of Mozart are considered to be his greatest work written for piano. The earlier concertos, however, served more as a lesson in composition in that genre, as well as further study of the colors and effects of the orchestra. Composed in Salzburg in 1767, following an extensive tour of Europe (1763-66), the piano concertos nos. 1-4 quilted together sonata movements borrowed from several of the composers Mozart met along the way, including Johann Schobert and Hermann Friedrich Raupach. This method of construction was not unusual for the time, especially in the world of opera. The arrangements of other composers' works allows scholars to compare the original sonata with the work of Mozart, indicating specific choices in instrumentation. The D Major Concerto, K. 40, includes movements borrowed from the piano sonatas of Leontzi Honauer (Op. 2 no. 1), Johann Gottfried Eckerd (Op. 1 no. 4), and C.P.E. Bach ("La Bohmer", from W. 117).
The concerto opens with a grand pronouncement by the strings, introducing the driving and energetic first movement. The dramatic gestures are interpolated with the more flirtatious grace-note figures and the tender, lyrical passages. The movement, although not Mozart's own composition, contains several of his "signature" figures and gestures, which foreshadow his later concertos and sonatas. The second movement is a calm and elegant respite from the rhythmic intensity of the two outer movements. The finale, marked Presto, is a frantic chase or hunt, with the brass echoing the strings and rapid descending arpeggios in both the strings and the piano.
No. 3 (K. 40) in D major
The concerto is scored for strings, piano (or harpsichord), and pairs of horns, oboes and trumpets. The movements are:
- Allegro maestoso 44
- Andante - in A Major, 24
- Presto 38
The first movement is based on the initial movement of Honauer's Op. 2, No. 1. The second on one by Johann Gottfried Eckard (op. 1, no. 4 ), the most famous keyboardist of his day. The third movement is based on C. P. E. Bach's piece La Boehmer, published in the early 1760s. Mozart's cadenzas for the concerto survive.
