Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: the Composer’s First Steps

Abstract

The article is based on the materials of the authors’ monograph’s Motsart i ego vremya [Mozart and His Time] (Moscow: Klassika-XXI, 2015). At the focus of the authors’ attention are the questions of the creative evolution of the genius at the earliest period of his compositional activities. The attempt is made to recreate the earliest stage of Mozart’s mastery of composition, and the conditions of the formation of his compositional skills are disclosed. Characterization is made in the article of the notebook of harpsichord pieces presented by Leopold Mozart in 1759 to Nannerl on her name day, which, after the course of a year, became Mozart’s favorite tutorial music book. Analysis is made of the father’s notes concerning the son’s first steps — in performance and composition. It is marked that during the first year of his compositional practice, Mozart achieved outstanding results, having traversed the path from completely immature pieces of an improvisatory type to professionally accomplished works that appeared at the confluence of his personal experience and his father’s instructions. Special attention
is placed on the Paris Sonatas (1763‒1764) and the London Sketchbook (1764), as well as the chamber sonatas written in London (1764‒1765) and The Hague (1766). By their example, the evolution of Mozart’s early sonata technique is traced. The conclusion is arrived at that the great European tour completed the period of Wolfgang’s study period in regard to then instrumental genres, and the young genius obtained compositional skills comparable with the experience of composition of the mature masters.

Keywords: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Leopold Mozart, Nannerl Notenbuch, Paris Sonatas, London Sketchbook, Mozart’s creative process