Mozart: Violin Sonata in A major, K.526

Introduction

The Sonata in A for Violin and Keyboard, K. 526, was written in 1787 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is placed in the Köchel catalogue between the string serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik (K. 525) and the opera Don Giovanni (K. 527).

There are three movements:

1. Molto allegro
2. Andante, in D major
3. Presto

It is the last of Mozart's substantial violin sonatas, with the only remaining work he wrote for this combination, the sonata in F, K. 547 of 1788 being more of a sonatina. It is also considered by several authors, including Alfred Einstein, to be part of his last series of three great violin sonatas which starts with the Regina Strinasacchi sonata in B-flat K. 454 from 1784 (his annus mirabilis, the year also of the six great piano concertos 14 – 19 and the quintet for piano and winds) and continuing with the E-flat violin sonata from December 1785. The first movement is a movement in sonata form in 6/8 time, with more evenly divided contributions between the two instruments than in the earliest of his sonatas, an exposition divided between its two tonal groups (A and E major), and a compact but unwasteful development section.

The second movement has, for a classical period slow sonata form, an extended development — it is much more characteristic for slow movements in sonata form, especially middle slow movements, to have exceptionally brief middle sections before the return of the main material, and that is not the case here. The passage just before the recapitulation brings a sequence of enharmonic changes and, for the period, wide modulations. The finale is a rondo with a particularly agitated middle section.