Concerto for two pianos in E flat major, K.365

Although the Concerto for two pianos was a Salzburg composition - written in 1779, presumably for the composer himself and his sister Nannerl as joint soloists - Mozart liked it enough to play it in at least two concerts in Vienna, on both occasions with his favourite pupil Josepha Barbara Auernhammer. In fact it is just as good as the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola, also in E flat, which was written at much the same time. If the Sinfonia Concertante has achieved more widespread popularity than the Concerto for two pianos it is not because the keyboard work is any less inspired in its melodic content or less interesting in its construction. It is more a matter of instrumental colour: in the keyboard concerto the the two pianos obviously speak with the same voice rather than as distinct personalities. It is scarcely less attractive for that, however.

The basis of the relationship between the two pianos in the first movement is that one of them introduces an idea and the other repeats it, sometimes literally but more often in some kind of variant form. Distinct differences of opinion, as in the joint cadenza, are rare. In the slow movement it is not so much a matter of rotation of ideas as of a discreetly sensuous blending of colours and interweaving of lines. The most sonorous piano scoring, rich in texture and secure in harmony, is held in reserve until near the end.

The closing Rondo restores the two pianos to the sort of relationship they had in most of the first movement - except that in this case their exchanges are executed in the spirit of witty repartee.

Mozart was no more than twenty-three when he wrote two double concertos, both of them in E flat major, each one virtually the first of its kind and, after well over 200 years, still the best. If the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola has achieved more widespread popularity than the Concerto for Two Pianos it is not because the latter work is any less inspired in its melodic content or less interesting in its construction. It is more a matter of instrumental colour: whereas the two pianos obviously speak with the same voice, the exchanges between violin and viola in the Sinfonia Concertante have the effect of a dialogue between two distinct personalities. In the keyboard cibcerti, however, Mozart compensates for the uniformity of colour by, at judiciously chosen moments, liberating one or the other of the two pianos from the rotation of material regularly observed by the violin and viola in the other work.

The basis of the relationship between the two pianos in the first movement is that one of them introduces an idea and the other repeats it, sometimes literally but more often in some kind of variant form. Immediately after the first solo entry with the four hands in unison – a dramatic effect reserved for special occasions – the first piano takes up the main theme and the second echoes it an octave lower. And so it goes on, apart from one minor excursion by the first piano, throughout the exposition. In the development, however, the second piano goes it alone in reverting to a forceful left-hand theme and re-engages the interest of its companion only by inventing an entirely new idea in bright right-hand octaves. The most striking departure of all comes from the first piano at the beginning of the recapitulation where it briefly but effectively suggests a change from E flat major to E flat minor, inducing the second piano to recall the main theme in that subversive key. Order is duly restored but the joint cadenza, which begins in unison, revives the differences of opinion the soloists experienced in the development.

In the slow movement it is not so much a matter of rotation of ideas as of a sensuous blending of colours and interweaving of lines, beginning with the entry of the second piano to take up the main theme against a prolonged trill on the first. Decorative figurations, runs and arpeggios in a variety of rhythmic elaborations, are exchanged between the soloists – most effectively when combined with a lyrical pair of oboes near the end of the B flat major opening section. The soloists part company only in the middle section where the second piano takes the harmonic initiative and, under a sustained top C on the oboe, diverts the tonality into a worrying C minor, provoking the first piano to reinstate the serenity in B flat major. The most sonorous piano scoring, rich in texture and secure in harmony, is held in reserve until after the reprise of the opening section.

The closing Rondo restores the two pianos to the sort of relationship they had in most of the first movement. In these cheerful circumstances, however, there is no need to interrupt the regular rotation of material between them since their exchanges have the effect of inexhaustibly witty repartee. The first initiative from either of them without a comment from the other is made by the first piano when it reintroduces the main rondo theme after the first episode – in which case it is only fair that the second piano should perform the same function after the second episode. The cadenza brilliantly clinches their relationship by overlapping the exchanges in imitative counterpoint.

Though written in Salzburg, presumably for himself and his sister Nannerl, Mozart revived the Concerto for two pianos at least twice in Vienna in performances with his favourite pupil Josepha Auernhammer. The extra wind (clarinet and trumpet) and timpani parts allegedly written for the Vienna performances are probably not authentic.

Gerald Larner © 2012

Mozart was no more than twenty-three when he wrote two double concertos, both of them in E flat major, each one virtually the first of its kind and, after two centuries, still the best. If the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola has achieved more widespread popularity than the Concerto for two pianos it is not because the latter work is any less inspired in its melodic content or less interesting in its construction. It is more a matter of instrumental colour: whereas the two pianos obviously speak with the same voice, the exchanges between violin and viola in the Sinfonia Concertante have the effect of a dialogue between two distinct personalities. The keyboard Concerto is scarcely less attractive for that, however. While solo prominence is evenly distributed between the two instruments, as it is in the Sinfonia Concertante, Mozart compensates for the uniformity of colour by, at judiciously chosen moments, liberating the pianos from the rotation of material regularly observed by the violin and viola in the other work.

The basis of the relationship between the two pianos in the first movement is that one of them introduces an idea and the other repeats it, sometimes literally but more often in some kind of variant form. Immediately after the first solo entry with the four hands in unison - a dramatic effect reserved for special occasions - the first piano takes up the main theme and the second echoes it an octave lower. And so it goes on, apart from one minor excursion by the first piano, throughout the exposition. In the development, however, the second piano goes it alone in reverting to a forceful left-hand theme and re-engages the interest of its companion only by inventing an entirely new idea in bright right-hand octaves. The most striking departure of all comes from the first piano at the beginning of the recapitulation where it briefly but effectively suggests a change from E flat major to E flat minor, inducing the second piano to recall the main theme in that subversive key. Order is duly restored but the joint cadenza, which begins in unison, revives the differences of opinion the soloists experienced in the development.

In the slow movement it is not so much a matter of rotation of ideas as of a sensuous blending of colours and interweaving of lines, beginning with the entry of the second piano to take up the main theme against a prolonged trill on the first. Decorative figurations, runs and arpeggios in a variety of rhythmic elaborations, are exchanged between the soloists, of course, and prove to be particularly effective when combined with a lyrical pair of oboes near the end of the B flat major opening section. The soloists part company only in the middle section where the second piano takes the harmonic initiative and, under a sustained top C on the oboe, diverts the tonality into a worrying C minor, provoking the first piano to reinstate the serenity in B flat major. The most sonorous piano scoring, rich in texture and secure in harmony, is held in reserve until after the reprise of the opening section.

The closing Rondo restores the two pianos to the sort of relationship they had in most of the first movement. In these cheerful circumstances, however, there is no need to interrupt the regular rotation of material between them since their exchanges have the effect of an inexhaustibly witty repartee. The first initiative from either of them without a comment from the other is made by the first piano when it reintroduces the main rondo theme after the first episode - in which case it is only fair that the second piano should perform the same function after the second episode. The cadenza brilliantly clinches their relationship by overlapping the exchanges in imitative counterpoint.

Though written in Salzburg, presumably for himself and his sister Nannerl, Mozart revived the Concerto for two pianos at least twice in Vienna in performances with his favourite pupil Josepha Barbara Auernhammer. The extra wind (clarinet and trumpet) and timpani parts allegedly written for the Vienna performances are almost certainly not authentic.