Mozart isn't always cheerful...

Without doubt, one of Mozart's most sublime pieces of music can be found in the second movement of his 23rd Piano Concerto in A major. The wistful lamentoso nature of the music and characteristic use of a slow Sicilian rhythm surprisingly recalls an earlier work: the Adagio middle movement of his 2nd Piano Sonata in F major. Yet the opening Sicilian motif is used almost obsessively in the former (albeit the subtle changes in harmonic context) and its resemblance to the sigh greatly contributes to the overall melancholy in the piece. Contrast is created, however, with surprisingly wide intervals in the piano melody and betrays Mozart's operatic vocal tendencies. The sweeping gestures made by the orchestra is equally as expressive and perhaps even foresees the eventual passionate beauty of the Romantic period.
Recording(Cho): • Seong-Jin Cho : Mozart...

[@HR-md6nt]

It’s so fantastic, if only Mozart had lived just 5 more years.

[@pietervoogt]

If Mozart lived to 94 he would have lived to see Chopin die

[@gabrieltelemaqueninin7626]

@@pietervoogt would have been insane !

[@jimbig3997]

There's a saying in Mexico: life is like a bottle (of tequila). Some people it drink slowly, others too fast. I don't know if I believe it, but every once in a while some of us need to slow down.

[@groezy]

he burned fast and bright 😢

[@michaelpogudincomposition]

"Momma told me there'd be days like this" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

[@jcarterjoseph9066]

Especially since she died on him while they were on that ill-fated trip to Paris. A bad day indeed.

[@michaelpogudincomposition]

@@jcarterjoseph9066 She warned him they'd be days like that :(

[@rexz3409]

People who say that Mozart is cheerful simply have not listened to enough of his music, especially his mature music from the Vienna period. Mozart is the undisputed master of light and shade, and he employs and balances these two forces in his music with an uncanny ease and technical competence that is unsurpassed by any composer before or after. Even the brightest of his major-key movements are very often tinged and imbued with darkness. Just like real life.

[@roryreviewer6598]

Even when Mozart is more “cheerful”, there’s usually subtle colors of other more profound emotion, at least in his later music.

[@skylarlimex]

Yes of course

[@cursedmoonfilms]

it's all the wonderful chromaticism he uses.. he commands and navigates it so effortlessly... not to mention his impeccable to make everything so cantabile.. beyond precious.

[@brianvanderspuy4514]

Yup, even some of his most "cheerful" music seems strangely tinged with grief. This particular piece is one of his few overtly "sad" pieces. But the whole concerto, even the joyful final movement, has this aura of sadness about it. This is precisely what makes Mozart so magical; no one else before or since could quite do this smile-with-a-tear thing like he could.

[@fooberdooge3103]

"If people could see into my heart, I should almost feel ashamed…all there is cold, cold as ice.” - Mozart to Constaze 1790

[@WSH3TM]

heartbreaking

[@operalover1010]

I don’t even play piano and yet I immediately recognized the thumbnail. One of my favorite piano concertos. Thanks for uploading!

[@skylarlimex]

That's amazing honestly!

[@sandeegrey5977]

So glad you covered this concerto. So dang beautiful!

[@skylarlimex]

With pleasure!

[@maximusfrank2835]

It’s been said over and over again that Mozart never deviated tempo with his left hand. This interpretation is very romantic

[@Javier-id4lq]

The recapitulation of that movement is my favourite part, purely romantic, so sad, so melancholic, superb.

[@minseonchoi2324]

I’m amazed at how you always pick the exact parts of the music that I love. It’s like you know exactly what resonates with me. Great work as always!

[@emilalfaro2800]

I used to be think that Mozart was just plain pretty and even superficial, always just sounding the same. I used to hate his cheeky chromatic appoggiaturas! However, after listening more and more, I realize that his music holds a beautiful quality that no composer has ever replicated, specifically in his melodies. Similar to how I feel about Ravel, everything just seems it was put in the right, most perfect spot, and I have no idea how he managed to do that! I’ve always thought that the best pieces of art are the ones you can’t explain (or has you experience an emotion you don’t know) and it just makes you feel a certain way that could only be understood by a deeper thing inside you. I’d also like to point out that this movement sounds extremely similar to the Adagio of his 2nd piano sonata, the piece that made me change my mind about Mozart. Lastly, could you do some more videos on Mahler? His use harmony and melody feels so idiomatic, like only he could’ve done it, and I’d enjoy seeing an explanation. Specifically moments from his 9th symphony and Das Lied von der Erde would be awesome!

[@skylarlimex]

Thanks for your comment! I'll think about the mahler.

[@Tooaster]

minor key mozart is super underrated

[@Astro-X]

extremely

[@Liam-vs9vg]

@@Astro-Xdo you have any suggestions of minor key Mozart pieces ?

[@速小圓]

“Piano concerto no.20” or fantasia and sonata.

[@joachimprecht5712]

Symohony 25, KV 183 Requiem KV 626 Piano Sonata KV 310 Piano Sonata KV 457 Symohony No 40, KV 550 Et cetera... There are a Lot minor pieces in Mozart œvre.

[@evanmisejka4062]

​@@Liam-vs9vgC minor piano sonata. It is direct inspiration for some of Beethoven's work. And the second movement uses the exact same chord progression as movement 2 of Beethoven's pathétique in a spot. It is wild, fun to play as well.

[@the_eternal_paradox]

my favorite movement of my favorite mozart concerto!! great analysis as always :)

[@skylarlimex]

Thank you!

[@johnmason8968]

This music vibrates so harmoniously through my mind that I find myself thinking that Mozart created it just for me but when it ends I realize that he created it for everybody. It is just one of his many, awe--inspiringly beautiful, ever--lasting gifts to humanity.

[@Dichweed]

Again, mozart showss his true genius.

[@keinepartituren001]

The theme excerpt gives me a shiver down the spine when it silently echoes afar in Hosokawa’s Lotus under the Moonlight. A delicately written theme is timeless!

[@ajamesu]

Simply gorgeous

[@amitjena8082]

This is brilliant concerto i have heard so far

[@jinzy6897]

Great video as usual! This is one of my favorite work of Mozart. Thank you for covering it.

[@skylarlimex]

One of my favourites as well!

[@normalizedaudio2481]

It's just nice to hear F sharp minor. Seems like people don't play in that much.

[@skylarlimex]

It's the only piece Mozart has in F sharp minor, imagine that!

[@aj7bwndn]

Fr, every composer after him either spammed C sharp minor or D flat major

[@anonymousblackscreen4703]

Nah, just Liszt and especially Chopin used them as their pets. ​@@aj7bwndn

[@anonymousblackscreen4703]

​​​@@aj7bwndn These 2 keys are uncommon. No composers really spammed these 2 keys, other than Liszt and especially Chopin who used them like their pets.

[@anonymousblackscreen4703]

​@@skylarlimexIt's even weirder to think about how Liszt and especially Chopin used the less common keys in their compositions much more than the more common keys. That's something I'd like to step away from, tbh.

[@lluisrafalessole-classical5068]

This is very beautiful music

[@NickFordCPTMusic]

Loving your content! Am on a binge of it right now and it's all so excellent! Thank you for putting this out in the world!

[@skylarlimex]

Thank you so much!

[@potatohunter3763]

my fav mozart,i love and play it every now and then

[@dustintieu629]

Cheers man, really appreciated what you are doing rn

[@karlsengupta7185]

Another beautiful video. Well done. And thank you.

[@skylarlimex]

Thank you!

[@evanmisejka4062]

The people who claim Mozart is too classical and boring are the people who don't listen to Mozart. My opinion is that the romantic movement began with Mozart and Haydn rather than Beethoven. Of course they are still very much classical, and so is Beethoven, however they did things that set the rest of music history in stone. Mozart single handedly saved opera in the 18th century and without him, there is no Wagner. He also was the first to combine the two styles of opera (opera saria and opera buffa). He experimented with chromaticism far more than even Beethoven (Just listen to the last movement of Mozart symphony 41. The section with the chromatic sequence sounds straight out of Schönberg). My assessment is that Beethoven gets too much credit where it is not necessarily all deserving of him. Don't get me wrong, his large symphonies and the beginnings of motifs and symphonic development were huge, but everyone gives him 100% of the credit, when he really doesn't deserve 100%.

[@user-uw6ri7ip6u]

A beautiful and ephemeral worldview👍🎹Amazing✨

[@radualexa1356]

My favourite piano concerto

[@pianowingman]

Mozart is Beautiful ❤ very Good Job ❤🎉 wonderful ❤

[@zevelgamer.]

So sad, Thank you for sharing this.

[@Mmbcll-qz1ku]

Ahh c’est incroyable… La musique donne toujours de l'amour.

[@dsm2240]

The Kyrie (first movement) of the C-Minor Mass makes me cry every time.

[@Random.pianist]

I wish there was a piano library that sounds like that.

[@mariatartini1146]

SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

[@Yipee566]

" But aren't days all rainbows and sunshine? " - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

[@fortunatomartino8549]

Excellent excerpt

[@ShaunakDesaiPiano]

I had no idea this is a concerto. Until the orchestra came in, I thought this was a variation of the first movement of Sonata in A major K331.

[@JanCarlComposer]

I would say the combination of neapolitan/cadential 64 at the end of the solo is a typical mozartian phrase ;)

[@thewaltzingpiano]

This is quite a deep and profound work of his. Sad to see that many people are of the opinion that Mozart never wrote works which are having musical depth. Like do pieces like this not hit different. It's not necessary to have constantly changing, shifting musical landscapes to be profound (more of technical but i think this gets my drift). Yes is anyone's wondering i do not like Gould very much, especially what he did to Mozart's music Also I love what your channel has been doing for the past few years, and I quite like this short-format style where you introduce new and interesting pieces to the audience. Hopes for this channel to be picked up by the algorithm and sent to the sky. (Here's to 1mil subs !!!)

[@skylarlimex]

Thanks a lot for sticking around! 1mil is pretty ambitious I'd say 😅

[@thewaltzingpiano]

@@skylarlimex Yes but for a channel of this calibre one would expect more people to benefit from what you share to us as an audience.. :)

[@rodrigocecchetto]

It's absolutely heart-breaking

[@AlwaysHopeful87]

Wow!

[@robinharwood5044]

Mozart’s Requiem isn’t quite a barrel of laughs.

[@SekiVivace]

F sharp minor is one of the most underrated keys of the "classical music".

[@sh_aspking]

if I could choose one composer to live to 100 years old, it would be mozart

[@RaineStudio]

"Wistful _lamentoso_ " is a modern take. In Mozart's day, the minor key did not automatically signify sadness. It was for intensity, and in fact, I find this movement to be intensely serene. The minor is much less straightforward for composition and listening. Perhaps that is why it was largely disfavored during the Classical Period when music was made for kings.

[@newnewchannel]

Thank you to tell me what chord Mozart used .

[@jewbacha1137]

"WE HAVE A MUSICAL EMERGENCY"

[@TchaikovskyListener]

I LOVE this movement.

[@lucpraslan]

Apparently this is the only thing he wrote in F# minor.

[@sfd373]

It’s interesting that Terrence Malick uses this piece as the love theme between John Smith and Pocahontas in The New World (2005). Perhaps because of this film, I don’t think of it sad particularly. To me it feels poignant, like it’s just the very tip of an iceberg - all this other emotion is hidden below the surface, lots of things going on, but all we hear is a heart-wrenching simplicity.

[@jp.7032]

👍♥️♥️♥️

[@mennanche]

I am a big fan of your analysis videos. I have one question though; why did you name bII6-chord as a Sicilian motif? In German (as I thought in English too), we call it "the Neapolitan chord" due to its association with the Neapolitan School. Is there an additional name for this phenomenon in English? I don't seem to find anything on the internet about this. Thanks, and keep up the good work! ☺

[@skylarlimex]

@@mennanche the Sicilian motif is a type of dotted rhythm. The bII6 chord is indeed called the Neapolitan.

[@des4993]

recalls the Bach siciliano as well

[@utvpoop]

Hammerklavier III mvt and this: * Triple meter * F sharp minor * Use of sicilian harmony

[@Jqh73o-l7v]

I don’t usaually like Mozart. But this is so beautifully romantic.

[@magnusgro4366]

That's also the Neapolitan Sixth in measure 9.

[@skylarlimex]

@@magnusgro4366 indeed

[@pedrohasallthepower]

Beautiful counterpoint, almost sounds like Bach

[@skylarlimex]

@@pedrohasallthepower Yes, the counterpoint in Mozart is excellent

[@Jingles466]

Does enyone know if there is a transcription of this for Guitar?

[@ДмитрийСкобельцын]

Chopin himself

[@taro12690]

I love your analytical video but my only complain is it's too short!

[@mustuploadtoo7543]

mozart

[@talr5827]

What is the name of this piece? It's so melodic and emotional.

[@LeslieHuangHuang]

Break my norm of mozart. feel sorry about misunderstanding him

[@supasayajinsongoku4464]

Input: Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven (Relatively simple) Output: Relatively complicated modern music This is a genuine question, why bring any relevance to such pieces when they have no relevance to yourself as a composer? (Sorry if i came off as offensive but i dont have any other way to put it)

[@skylarlimex]

Complexity is deceiving; try writing anything that remotely resembles Mozart's style and you'll quickly find that there are many different layers of complexity to his apparent simplicity. As a composer myself I have an immense appreciation for the music of the past and despite being in the search of a singular personal voice (if that even exists!), I find it incredibly important, for me at least, to be greatly cultured in what has come before me, to then know what should follow. Know the rules before you break them.

[@supasayajinsongoku4464]

@@skylarlimex im sorry, I just have a very complicated question with the making of "academic"/"conservatory" music (i dont know a sensible name to put it under) which is bothering me, and i feel that it is so complicated I myself dont even properly know what it is. I might ask it to you when Ive gathered my thoughts beacuse your a composer of this music and your active in your comments sections. (also it isnt on the lines of "why do people only write noise today" or some other ignorant bs) (also i hopefully wont present you with some 300 word long question lol, i might not even ask it at all, which is likely the case beacuse thinking about this is incredibly frustrating)

[@antoninproust3389]

Bonjour la suite est dispo où ? Merci !

[@Elijah24553]

Which concerto is this? At first I thought it was a variation from his sonata in A major, or something.

[@skylarlimex]

His 23rd piano concerto

[@Elijah24553]

@@skylarlimex I thought it might be that. Thx!

[@jcarterjoseph9066]

Well of course Mozart isn't always cheerful! Silly headline. Mozarts music encompasses the full spectrum of human emotion. Listen to any of his music, and there is always at least a fleeting moment of introspection. That is part of what makes him great. He marries perfect form and craft with deepest thought and feeling.

[@orangecloudsonanindigoblue9786]

Could you analyse O mio babbino caro?

[@skylarlimex]

Such a great song

[@VeguldenZilverling]

I don't understand why V64 should not be I64. Is the procedure with figured bass not to notate from the bass note up to the ground note (chord name note)? Like C sharp is the V in F sharp minor, you then measure a fourth (F sharp) and 6th upwards, and this because the function is tonic I?

[@skylarlimex]

I have a community post on this if you're interested

[@uigliam]

.... 🥀....

[@nevetsny1]

I don't get figured bass. In 4th measure is V64 G# C# F? That doesn't sound right. 64 is third inversion? What is V6/III? Isn't V6 second inversion, I don't understand mixing figured bass and slash chord convention.

[@skylarlimex]

It's not slash chord, it's Roman numeral analysis. Slashes refer to secondary chords

[@nevetsny1]

@@skylarlimexThanks. Can you recommend a primer on Roman numeral analysis?

[@johnbjorgenson5481]

Hey skylar, can you accurately hear sheet music in your head just by looking at it, especially complex piano pieces or orchestral scores

[@skylarlimex]

It depends on the complexity of the piece of course. It takes me a while but up to romantic pieces, I can get a rough idea. Any piece I've heard before shouldn't be too much of a problem to read.

[@johnbjorgenson5481]

@@skylarlimex how about Beethoven sonatas or symphonies?. I’m quite advanced in music but it’s difficult to hear it in my head

[@skylarlimex]

@@johnbjorgenson5481 You mean without listening to them yet?

[@johnbjorgenson5481]

@@skylarlimex yeah! It’s something I’ve been told to learn at my conservatory I’m always curious if other composers and music as have this skill. Great videos btw!

[@AlekseyMaksimovichPeshkov]

If you knew how to sing and therefore know what a note sounds like on a piece of sheet music without having to go to an instrument to play it to see what it sounds like, wouldn't you be able to know?

[@giuseppeleone9729]

Excuse me, which concerto is this?

[@Dylonely42]

I would love to have your level in music theory… but I am too lazy 😂

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

Who assumed so?

[@davidalbro2009]

Operatic?

[@zampai]

Is this piano reduction on imslp?

[@skylarlimex]

Yes it is!

[@CheukTheGreatestOfEverything]

Imagine not being first

[@gmfrunzik]

Imagine being first and typing that you were first

[@chrisoconnor9521]

Who the f*** ever said Mozart was always cheerful? Try listening to Don f***ing Giovanni

[@detlefspinel1587]

Прям шопенисто звучит!

[@teresagardiner153]

Begone, troll.

[@alainspiteri502]

only Clara Haskil is above the keyboard , all others pianists it-s nice song nothing more , Clara Haskil speaks to us the others pianists play for their Audience and nothing more

[@mikkelfalkenlove7601]

Why ever listen to other music? Ok, some hapoy Mozart...😅

[@i.ehrenfest349]

I only find his music tolerable when it’s not cheerful

[@abillionjivebars9888]

The orchestra part had nice clashes in the harmony and felt more moving, but the solo piano sounds like generic sad classical piano piece no500

[@scarf550]

True, I’ve heard much better from Mozart. But we must remember that his music was one of the first to begin pushing away from classical and moving more towards a romantic style.

[@FrostDirt]

This is exactly what Robert Levin talked about in his lecture. Piano parts are meant to be improvised.