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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K. 466
Issac Pedroza
March 6, 2014
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K. 466
Renowned composer and musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was around the age of
five when he started composing music and continued to be a musical genius till he died at the
age of thirty five. In his life he composed somewhere around 600 works many of which are still
very popular and well known today. Mozart influenced many people including Hayden and
Beethoven. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, written by Mozart, is an amazing example of
musical brilliance, how Mozart’s works affected other people and it shows how great music
lives on to this very day.
Mozart composed 27 concertos for the piano and orchestra, 23 of which he wrote in his
prime. Concerto No. 20 is special because it is one of two that is written in the key signature of
D Minor.1 This piece was written for a solo piano, a flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns,
two trumpets, a timpani, and strings.2 This concerto has a cadenza, like most others, which is a
small section where the soloist improvises. It was written in the standard concerto form of 3
movements starting with an Allegro opening that lasts about 15 minutes followed by a
Romanze (or romance) part that lasts about 8 minutes, and ending with Allegro assai lasts
about 8 minutes for a total time around 30 minutes.
This piece was written during Mozart’s prime in 1784 and at the beginning of the year
1785. He was composing about 3 to 4 concertos a season from 1782 slowing down in 1785.
During this time he was also writing other concertos all featuring himself as the soloist. He
wrote this piece while he lived Vienna. The first performance took place at Mehlgrube Casino
in Vienna on February, 11, 1785. Mozart’s father Leopold Mozart was at the opening
performance and was greatly impressed by this concerto so much so that he wrote a letter to
Mozart’s sister boasting the piece’s excellence.3 Another famous composer and one of Mozart’s
friends was also in the audience Joseph Haydn, who the next day after listening to the piece
proclaimed to Mozart’s father “I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the
1
Peter Gutmann, Classical Notes
2
Herbert Glass, La Phil
3
Mozart, The Letters of Mozart and His Family
greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste and what is more the
greatest skill in composition”.4It was a very well received piece of music.
There is not much known on what influenced this piece but there are some guesses.
One of the possible influences is Mozart’s friend Haydn because they spent time together
during the time he was writing the piece. There are other ideas out there that say that maybe
his day to day life and emotions affected this piece which could explain why it is one of the
most emotion filled pieces. Besides Mozart’s pure musical brilliance there isn’t a whole lot on
what influenced Mozart to write this piece and what kind of music it would be.
There are many things that make Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 a significant and
special piece of music. One of the most notable things is the fact that it drew the attention of
many of history’s greatest composers. Most notable of these composers was Ludwig van
Beethoven. Even though Mozart’s impact on Beethoven was strongest in his early-period
works, Beethoven continued to work with the music of his predecessor in his middle and late
periods. He wrote stylistically bold cadenzas for the first and last movements of Mozart’s Piano
Concerto in D minor.5These popular cadenzas are still used in the performance of the concerto
today. Another thing that makes this song great is that fact that it is considered not that
technical of a piece but it has so many emotions that it makes the piece difficult
A lot of Mozart’s music is still popular today but this piece in particular is very popular.
This piece is played around the world in many famous concert halls by many famous musicians.
It sometimes appears on television and other media outlets. This piece gets good reviews
wherever it goes and whenever it is played and I doubt that will change.
Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K 466 is and always will be a classic Mozart
piano piece. This piece is one of Mozart’s many great accomplishments during his lifetime. This
concerto was very well received and praised greatly from the moment it came out to the
present day. This piece and Mozart in general have inspired many composers and musicians
alike to do great things in music. I believe this quote by the great musicologist and Mozart
scholar Alfred Einstein perhaps best summed up this paper by regarding the Mozart concerti as
4
Mozart, The Letters of Mozart and His Family
5
Eisen, Cliff, and Simon P. Keefe. The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia
the end of the line – a perfect fusion of elements that created a higher unity and still raises
listeners to a higher level, an achievement "beyond which no progress was possible, because
perfection is imperfectible.”6
6
Peter Gutmann, Classical Notes
Bibliography
"Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, a History." Piano Concerto No. 20 In D Minor, A History
Timeline. Lightstone Software LLC, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.preceden.com/timelines/49065-piano-concerto-no--20-in-d-minor--a-history>.
Gutmann, Peter. "Classical Notes - Classical Classics - Mozart: Piano Concerto # 20 in D Minor, By
Peter Gutmann." Classical Notes - Classical Classics - Mozart: Piano Concerto # 20 in D Minor, By Peter
Gutmann. Classical Notes, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics3/mozart466.html>.
"AllMusic." AllMusic. N.p., 2014. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.allmusic.com/composition/piano-concerto-no-20-in-d-minor-k-466-mc0002375627>.
Eisen, Cliff, and Simon P. Keefe. The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
2006. Print.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Leopold Mozart, Emily Anderson, A. Hyatt King, and Monica
Carolan. The Letters of Mozart and His Family. London: Macmillan, 1966. Print.
Glass, Herbert. "Piano Concerto No. 20, K. 466." LA Phil. Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.,
2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. <http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/piano-concerto-no-20-k-466wolfgang-amadeus-mozart>.
"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Mar.
2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart>.
"Piano Concerto No. 20 (Mozart)" Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Mar. 2014. Web. 05
Mar. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._20_(Mozart)>.
1. Peter Gutmann, Classical Notes
2. Herbert Glass, La Phil
3. Mozart, The Letters of Mozart and His Family