F. X. W. Mozart: Rondos, Sonata, Polonaises

On this release, Katarzyna Drogosz explores Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart’s Rondos, Sonata, Polonaises, and Variations. “Keyboard music in its broadest sense forms the core of Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart’s compositional activities. Interestingly, already the earliest compositions show a style of their own. Even the so-called Rondo in F major WV VII:1 (actually a movement in sonata form) soon leaves the paths of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn which would have been the most imminent models. The Rondeau in F major Op. 4 is similar in style to this first compositional attempt, but it is definitely more polished and surprises by a wealth of different keyboard techniques and by sophisticated modulations. The intentions of the composer finally become evident in the Piano Sonata in G major Op. 10, the most extended and perhaps also the most ambitious piano work of the composer, then still just 16 years old. The model of Beethoven is only evident in the four-movement plan with a minuet or scherzo as part of the cycle, but none of the movement even tries to imitate Beethoven’s heroic style. Like in many works of Schubert (who at that time had not yet started his musical career) the influence of dance music can be felt, particularly in the third and fourth movements…” (Ulrich Leisinger).