Mozart and Haydn — Golden Age of the Classical Piano

The Classical Era — 1770–1810

After the Baroque of the previous [Bach and keyboard music] article, the late 18th century brings the Viennese Classical era. Its center is a trio — Haydn (1732–1809), Mozart (1756–1791), and Beethoven (1770–1827, treated in the next article).

In these 40 years:

• The complete transition from harpsichord to fortepiano
• The consolidation of sonata form and the Classical concerto
• The fortepiano becomes central in home and aristocratic salon
• The public concert is born

A great turn: “Baroque counterpoint” → “the lucid harmony and form of the Classical era.”

Franz Joseph Haydn — Architect of the Classical Era

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) was born in Rohrau, Austria. Called “the father of the symphony” and “the father of the string quartet,” he was the central figure who established the forms and idioms of the Classical era.

His output is enormous: 106 symphonies, 68 string quartets, 62 piano sonatas, plus concertos, oratorios, and operas.

Life

• 31 March 1732 — Born on the Austro-Hungarian border at Rohrau (his father was a wheelwright)
• 1740 — Boys’ choir at St. Stephen’s, Vienna
• 1761–1790 — Kapellmeister to the Esterházy princes for 30 years at Eisenstadt and Esterháza (Hungary)
• 1791–1795 — Two triumphant visits to London. The 12 “London Symphonies”
• 31 May 1809 — Dies in Vienna at 77, while Napoleon’s army besieges the city

“Thirty Years of Isolation Made My Talent”

Haydn himself:

“I was cut off from the world. So I had to become original.”

In his 30 years at Esterházy, Haydn was in the Hungarian countryside, cut off from the wider musical world. That gave him room to develop his own idiom over decades.

Haydn’s 62 Piano Sonatas

Haydn wrote 62 piano sonatas (with harpsichord and fortepiano works mixed in practice). More than Mozart (18) or Beethoven (32) — but they are performed less often today.

Representative Works

• Sonata in E-flat major, Hob. XVI:52 (1794) — for the London pianist Therese Jansen. A summit of the late Haydn, nearly 25 minutes
• Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:50 (1794) — from the same period, bright and grand
• Sonata in E minor, Hob. XVI:34 (c. 1780) — a minor-key masterpiece, in the Sturm und Drang mode

Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII:6 (1793)

One of Haydn’s peaks as a solo composer. Reflects the death of his wife the same year — deep and heavy. Fine modern performances include Richter, Brendel, András Schiff.

From Haydn to Mozart — Friendship

Haydn and Mozart, 24 years his junior, were bound by deep friendship:

• In 1785 Mozart dedicated the six “Haydn” quartets to him
• Haydn told Mozart’s father Leopold: “Your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name” — a famous anecdote
• Haydn deeply mourned Mozart’s death in 1791

“Ungrudging praise from the elder to the younger” is one of the rare historical instances. A beautiful teacher-pupil relationship in the history of music.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was born in Salzburg and died young at 35, leaving over 600 works.

No other composer left masterpieces in every genre as Mozart did — opera, symphony, concerto, chamber music, sonata, sacred music, dance. Among all of that, piano music (concerto, sonata, fantasia) is central.

Life (Very Brief)

• 27 January 1756 — Born in Salzburg (his father Leopold was court Kapellmeister)
• Ages 6–15 — Grand European tours (Paris, London, Munich, Italy)
• 1781 — Leaves Salzburg and becomes a freelance musician in Vienna — an unprecedented choice
• 1782 — Marries Constanze Weber
• 1786–1790 — Height of the piano concerto
• 5 December 1791 — Dies in Vienna at 35 with the Requiem unfinished

Mozart’s Piano

The piano Mozart mainly used was an Anton Walter (1752–1826) fortepiano (acquired c. 1782). Around 5 octaves (60 keys), light touch, clear articulation — a very different instrument from the modern Steinway.

• Preserved at the Mozart Geburtshaus, Salzburg
• Modern replicas let us hear Mozart’s own sound
• András Schiff, Malcolm Bilson, Robert Levin have recorded Mozart on fortepiano

“Mozart’s music can be played on the modern Steinway, but with a Walter’s resonance it sounds completely different” — a discovery of the historical performance movement.

The 27 Piano Concertos — A Body of Masterpieces

Mozart wrote 27 piano concertos (K. 37–595). The 15 later works (from K. 271) are the masterpieces. Especially:

No.	Key	K.	Note
9	E-flat	271	“Jeunehomme”, age 21, an early masterwork
20	D minor	466	Minor, Sturm und Drang — Beethoven wrote cadenzas
21	C major	467	“Elvira Madigan”, second movement famous from the film
23	A major	488	Mozart’s favorite — luminous slow movement
24	C minor	491	Minor, tragic — model for Beethoven’s Third
27	B-flat	595	The last concerto, year of death, heavenly

“Operatic Concertos”

Mozart’s concertos are operatic. The soloist is the protagonist, the orchestra the other characters of the drama. The minor-key 20, 23, and 24 connect directly to the passions (love, jealousy, grief, revenge) of Mozart’s operas.

Modern performances: Brendel, Uchida, Perahia, Lupu, Fujita Mao and their complete sets.

The 18 Piano Sonatas — Pedagogical Staples

Mozart’s 18 piano sonatas (K. 279–576) are established as the intermediate teaching material for pianists worldwide. “You are not a mid-level pianist unless you can play Mozart.”

Famous Sonatas

• Sonata in C major, K. 545 — the “Sonata facile,” in every child’s repertoire worldwide
• Sonata in A major, K. 331 — the third movement is the famous “Rondo alla Turca”
• Sonata in B-flat, K. 333 — a clear three-movement work
• Sonata in A minor, K. 310 — a minor-key masterpiece reflecting his mother’s death

“Mozart Looks Easy but Is Hard”

Mozart’s piano music looks simple but is extraordinarily hard to play. Few notes → mistakes stand out; melody-based → expressive demands are high; lightness must coexist with depth.

Artur Schnabel (1882–1951) famously said:

“Mozart is too easy for children and too difficult for artists.”

Mozart is the touchstone of a pianist.

Fantasia in C minor K. 475 and Sonata in C minor K. 457

In 1785, Mozart paired the Fantasia in C minor K. 475 with the Sonata in C minor K. 457. The apex of Mozart’s minor-key depth.

The Fantasia is free and improvisational — an alternation of minor and major. It has direct descendants in Beethoven’s Pathétique and Schubert’s Fantasy.

The Rondo alla Turca and “Alla Turca”

The third movement of the K. 331 Sonata, the Alla Turca (Turkish Rondo), is one of the most famous piano pieces in the world.

• Turkish music was in fashion in 1780s Vienna (from Ottoman janissary bands)
• Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven all wrote “Turkish” pieces
• The piano imitates percussion effects

It is still a staple of children’s piano recitals worldwide. Even Tsujii Nobuyuki and Lang Lang play it. A symbol of cross-cultural exchange in music.

The Birth of the Public Concert

In Mozart’s day, the venue of music shifted dramatically:

Noble Salon (Tradition)

• In an aristocrat’s house, a small private concert
• Haydn at Esterházy, Mozart at the Salzburg archbishop’s court

Public Concert (New Form)

• Ticket-selling admits the general public
• Mozart himself organized subscription concerts in Vienna from 1782
• On 11 February 1785 Leopold attended one of his son’s concerts in Vienna, witnessing his son’s success

“Citizens pay to hear music” — a new culture. It grows into the 19th-century concert-hall culture.

Mozart’s Death and Burial

At 12:55 a.m. on 5 December 1791, Mozart died in Vienna, aged 35. Modern medical history suggests rheumatic fever and chronic infection (the poisoning story is dismissed).

• The Requiem K. 626 remained unfinished
• His wife Constanze asked his pupil Süssmayr to complete it
• A modest funeral at St. Stephen’s on 7 December, followed by burial in the communal St. Mark’s Cemetery
• The exact grave site is not known to this day (a memorial was erected later)

The “cause of death” and “location of the grave” — Mozart’s two great unsolved themes — remain the subject of research. Two centuries later, the film Amadeus (1984, Miloš Forman) made Mozart’s image once more part of world culture.

The Köchel Number — The World’s Largest Work Catalogue

The Köchel-Verzeichnis (K.) is the chronological catalogue of Mozart’s complete works, compiled by Ludwig von Köchel in 1862. From K. 1 (a work by the 5-year-old Mozart) to K. 626 (the Requiem).

Today “K. 331” or “K. 488” is instantly recognized by musicians worldwide. A parallel to Bach’s BWV numbering from the previous article.

“Senior” Mozart-and-Haydn Specialists

• Wilhelm Kempff (1895–1991) — Germany; Mozart, Beethoven
• Alfred Brendel (1931–) — Austria/UK; complete Mozart
• Clara Haskil (1895–1960) — Romania/Switzerland; Mozart-poet
• Uchida Mitsuko (1948–) — Japan; complete Mozart sonatas, Grammy Award
• Murray Perahia (1947–) — US; complete Mozart concertos (directing from the keyboard)
• Fujita Mao (1998–) — Japan; a Mozart player of the current generation

Modern Impact

• Education — Mozart and Haydn are the intermediate staples worldwide
• Concerts — still performed constantly; competition warhorses
• Composition — Classical forms (sonata, concerto) are still the skeleton of Western music
• Films — Amadeus (1984) and Elvira Madigan (1967) brought Mozart to a broader public
• The “Mozart effect” — “listening to Mozart makes you smarter” (a pseudo-scientific claim in circulation)

From This Article to the Next

We have followed the golden age of the Classical piano. The next article is Beethoven (1770–1827) — his 32 sonatas and 5 concertos. Twenty-one-year-old Beethoven arrives in Vienna a year after Mozart’s death, and drives the fortepiano past the instrument’s limits. Pathétique, Moonlight, Appassionata, Waldstein, Hammerklavier — vast piano writing, and the story of a composer who kept writing for the piano while going deaf.