Mozart’s Second Thoughts

This chapter argues that Mozart's music, rather than emerging fully formed from the mind of a genius, is rather the product of much labor throughout the compositional process. In particular, the chapter concerns two instances in which Mozart returned to a work in progress to make substantial revisions. The Sonata in D Major, K. 284, is the last of the set of six sonatas completed by early 1775 at Munich. The reworking of its first movement offers insights into Mozart's evolving stylistic language at a pivotal point in his career. This chapter's second example dates from more than a decade later, in 1786, when Mozart reshaped the piano entrance in the first movement of one of his most imposing works for piano, the Concerto in C Major, K. 503.