Mozart - Prelude and Fugue K.394 (1782) {Walter Klien}

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 - 5 December 1791) was one of the most influential, popular and prolific composers of the classical period. A child prodigy, from an early age he began composing over 600 works, including some of the most famous pieces of symphonic, chamber, operatic, and choral music.
Prelude and fugue for piano in C major, K. 394 (K. 383a) Vienna, 20 April, 1782
Walter Klien, piano
Description by Brian Robins [-]
One of the most profound influences on the development of Mozart's style after he settled in Vienna was his introduction to the music of J.S. Bach. This he owed to the Viennese nobleman Baron Gottfried van Swieten, and enthusiastic collector of the music of both Bach and Handel. Mozart appears to have met van Swieten soon after he settled in Vienna in 1781. By the spring of the following year, he was regularly attending the Baron's Sunday morning artistic gatherings, as he makes clear in a letter addressed to his father on April 10, 1782 -- further telling Leopold that at these meetings "nothing is played but Handel and Bach." Concurrently, Mozart had begun to closely study of the fugues of members of the Bach family, not just those of Johann Sebastian, but also those of his sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel and Wilhelm Friedemann. Ten days after writing to his father, Mozart revealed that he was putting to such study to practical use, sending his sister Nannerl the present Prelude and Fugue in C major, which he tells us he had composed for his wife Constanze, who apparently "absolutely fell in love" with the fugues of Bach and Handel she heard (letter of April 20). The same letter also reveals something of Mozart's compositional technique at the time -- he told Nannerl that he composed the fugue first (in his head, as usual), then wrote it down while he was thinking out the prelude. Constanze's love of fugal writing may well also account for the great archaic fugues in another work associated with her -- the unfinished Mass in C Minor, K. 427, a work started later that year and intended as a votive mass of thanks for his marriage.

[@mmbmbmbmb]

Chapeau to those, who worked their way through this original script. How lucky were we to have piano books with clear print and easy readable notes ;o) Thank you for this nice rendition with Walter Klien.

[@bartjebartmans]

I don't think this was ever published during Mozart's life. He mainly wrote it because his wife Constanze was fascinated by Bach fugues, she insisted Mozart wrote some too. He did so to oblige her and if you look at the handwriting you can tell it was done in great hurry and I would say halfheartedly. I am working on the Rondo in D major right now and his handwriting is incredibly meticulous, beautiful and precise, easy to read. You can tell he spent much more time writing that than the Fugue.

[@mmbmbmbmb]

@@bartjebartmans That would well explain the, for Mozart, rather unusual 'messy' script. Thank you for pointing that out.

[@DavesMathVideos]

"Hey Ludwig! It's your cousin Marvin van Beethoven! You know that new sound you're looking for? Well listen to this!"

[@jesusdominguez_2004]

“Back to the Classic”

[@elmiramuradova561]

КАКАЯ КРАСОТА!!! Simple marvelous. Mozart great composer!

[@carlosmendez6729]

This is Beethoven before Beethoven wow never heard this Mozart piece before!

[@Fm-xu9id]

Mozart's works very beethovenians: Adagio & fugue for strings in C minor kv.546 Fantasy for piano in C minor kv.475 Piano concertos 20 & 24 Masonic funeral kv.477. Fantasy for organ kv.608 Piano sonatas #8 & #14 String quintets #4 & #5 Serenade for Winds in C minor kv.388 Don Giovanni commendatore aria " A cenar teco " Misericordias Domini kv.222 And many more :)

[@calebhu6383]

More like Schubert imo

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@Fm-xu9id How exactly is K.608 Beethovenian?

[@Alix777.]

Beethoven is a dwarf besides Mozart.

[@vittoriomarano8230]

@@Fm-xu9id these are authentically mozartian compositions!

[@user-tl8oj4tv1g]

04:44: Fugue

[@evanmisejka4062]

Love it!

[@ilirllukaci5345]

Thanks.

[@caidthackeray8896]

Thank goodness I don't have to read this nowadays. It'd be more figurin out what it is than practicin.

[@aarondrayer548]

People say Mozart is too simple, they say that because they haven't clearly listened to his fantasias.

[@elmiramuradova561]

Agree ,this is true

[@jorgeaguirre7260]

Even sonata K 545 is difficult. Touching some keys in order and following the rhythm does not mean it´s an interpretation. Mozart is of a level of complexity that is not the one of Liszt or Beethoven, but it requires clarity that not even a well thought amateur can deliver.

[@thomasjefferson6599]

​@Franz Liszt Are you joking? Although I agree that the simplicity fallacy is undoubtedly false, I don't agree that Beethoven is not complex. Apart from being recognized as consisting of parts which are difficult to understand, complexity can also mean either the unorthodox connectivity between individual parts or a multitude of them intertwined in revolutionary ways. I can give you a list full of complex Beethoven works that even abide by YOUR definition of complex, in addition to my interpretation of the word's true meaning! Finally, I do agree that complexity is not necessarily equivalent to quality, and that a work being complex is not indicative of its true value. Despite this, however, there is an evident positive correlation between quality and complexity in the works of many composers. In addition, Polyphony and polytonality ARE complex tools and proper utilization of their properties in an integrated manner will lead to a degree of quality when applied correctly.

[@GUILLOM]

@@Whatismusic123 sad

[@GUILLOM]

@@Whatismusic123 yes but actually no but actually yes

[@youneshraimel6606]

clean my soul from all pain

[@ruperttmls7985]

El preludio suena mas cercano a Beethoven que a Bach! Que extraño, por ratos hasta pareciera no ser de Mozart. Que interesante de verdad. El tema de la fuga recuerda vagamente al de la BWV 876 de Bach. 🤔

[@pietrolandri6081]

Yes it's exactly what I thought. There's pretty much nothing reminding Bach style in the Prelude, but a lot of anticipations of LvB who was 11 years old st time. I detected even few lightening clusters of notes even beyond Beethoven. As far as Fugue is concerned I found it somehow "scholastic", less interesting than Prelude (that is actually so innovative to be stunning hence everything else suffers in comparison),; although well crafted and, again, not very Bachian. I'd say Fugue is Mozartian 100% although Wolfgang wrote more genial examples of Fugues, vocal or instrumental

[@carmenaballi]

Brutal❤️

[@tonyping2262]

I thought only composer like Bach and Shostakovich wrote preludes and fugues. I didn’t know composers like Mozart wrote fugues as well.🤔

[@bartjebartmans]

Many composers did. Most kept them private as they were study works for harmony and counterpoint. Saint Saens wrote some magnificent fugues, so did Liszt, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky., Draeseke, etc. etc.

[@tonyping2262]

Bartje Bartmans Hmmm, I didn’t actually know that Romantic composers like Beethoven and Lizzy and Mendelssohn wrote fugues. That’s quite interesting

[@Alix777.]

Mozart could write perfect double fugues at 16...

[@Fumozart]

​@@Alix777. which piece?

[@Cayres18]

♥️❤️😍

[@denis.i.saveliev]

Fugue: Stravinsky )

[@daveontheskies]

Hermoso

[@supawels3627]

Außer dem Musikgenuss eine hervorragende Alzheimer - Vorbeugung! Jedenfalls kann das Wolferl auch BACH!

[@annandmartintravers5281]

Vexalord. I think you are right. It has the feeling of spontaneity, although cast in a familiar musical form. I don't normally associate Mozart with fugues.

[@voxveritatis3815]

You'd be surprised of how many great fugues Mozart composed. Some unknown for reasons I still can't understand.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

LMAO, why don't you just reply to the comment itself?

[@annandmartintravers5281]

@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven that was my comment.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@annandmartintravers5281 You do realize that there’s a reply button and you can simply reply to the comment itself, right? You don’t have to create a separate comment.

[@ronarkom1611]

Have you heard k574? Socks will be blown off.

[@CortinaBlackout]

THIS PIECE OF MOZART UNDESTS THE LEGEND OF THE SUPER FORGETTING OF THE BACH WORK AFTER THE DEATH OF KANTOR DE LEIPZIG.

[@ihaveacoolnickname]

Let me say first that I hold Mozart in the highest regard musically but this is quite uncharacteristic of his piano music. The playful inventiveness is almost nonexistent and the joyful passages full of great melodic passion are constrained within the form. He does not reach the spiritual depths of Bach's fugues either, but then Wolfgang was not a particularly spiritual man. It is still great music full of genius but I suppose it is a testament to Bach's great mastery of counterpoint that not even Mozart could write fugues that compare to Johann Sebastian. I am stunned.

[@bartjebartmans]

"Mozart was not a particularly spiritual man"... wow... Where did you get that crazy idea from? Never heard his Requiem? Grand Messe in C minor? Ave Verum? “Music is my life and my life is music. Anyone who does not understand this is not worthy of God.” - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

[@ihaveacoolnickname]

@@bartjebartmans Of course. I heard those pieces back in the 1980s. He lived in a time when it behooved one to speak well of God and write music to honor the church's power and influence but compared to Bach's piety and devotion, he was practically a heretic.

[@MaestroTJS]

So you're going to compare Mozart to Bach based on this one fugue, which I suspect is one of his earlier attempts in the genre? What about the Adagio and Fugue in c minor for strings? What about the Kyrie in the Requiem? What about the finale of the 41st symphony? Mozart's "mastery of counterpoint" is in evidence elsewhere, but not necessarily in a strict fugal format. Listen to the middle of the finale of the 19th concerto or the whirlwind of counterpoint in the development of the finale of the 40th symphony. And I'm sure there are a million other examples I could come up with.

[@ihaveacoolnickname]

@@MaestroTJS His mastery of all things musical is not in question. However, it's important to note that those masterpieces you mentioned are not fugues for keyboard. My comment wasn't a criticism. It was more of a statement of my surprise. I suppose I am simply used to Wolfgang being able to do anything musical perfectly, on the first try. You are right though. It is premature. The discovery of Mozart's interest in Bach is a fairly new event if I'm not mistaken. I will have to listen to more of his keyboard fugues. I appreciate this channel very much.

[@bartjebartmans]

Why was Mozart a heretic? Mozart was Roman Catholic and took it serious. He might have been a joking, frivolous (defense mechanism) man in public, but in private he was observant, smart and serious. How religious Bach was nobody knows as doubting and questioning one's religion would be grounds for dismissal and failure in those days. One just didn't discuss it. Period. We never will know how religious any of them were.

[@ariomcheme]

The hand writing looks neurotic and fast...That quill was worn out when he wrote that fuga...

[@pianissimo_yt]

1:50 reminds me of beethoven’s waldstein sonata idk why

[@Alix777.]

Beethoven is overrated trash

[@pianissimo_yt]

@@Alix777. wow cool amazing congrats incredible

[@hironariinbe7351]

Bach 以後にこのような偉大な傑作を創造した作曲家がモーツァルトMozart のほかに誰かいるだろうか もちろんわたしがここでBach 以後の傑作というのはPrelude and Fugue という形式をとった作品の中でという意味であるが

[@jimfowler5930]

Abgemacht! Du hast recht. Vielen Dank.

[@hironariinbe7351]

@@jimfowler5930 ドイツの人であるあなたに 外国の方にはわかりやすいとは言い難い日本語をわざわざ読んで頂きたいへんありがとうございます わたしは学生時代ドイツ語を少しかじった人間でしかありませんので たいへん恐縮ではありますがわが母国語である日本語で返信することをどうぞご容赦ください またあなたに返信でもする機会がございましたらその時には拙いドイツ語になるでしょうが是非あなたの母国語で返信致したいと思っています

[@jimfowler5930]

Doch!

[@PointyTailofSatan]

The Prelude is clearly influenced by Bach's Chromatic Fantasy. But what the heck is going on with the fugue? It sounds like it's being played in non-equal temperament, in some unfriendly key.

[@ulisescervantes]

PointyTailofSatan I don’t see the connection with the Chromatic Fantasy as clearly as you. I just don’t get the fugue, maybe kind of dull themes or voices?

[@handavid6421]

Mozart's handwriting is probably one of the ugliest. Beethoven or Chopin are much better. he probably had no time to write neatly to keep in track of the music gushing out.

[@OscarBernfield]

Calling Beethoven's handwriting neat is a huge stretch

[@rorrimirror]

​@OscarBernfield Probably the biggest stretch in the history of mankind. Beethoven's manuscripts were nothing less than unreadable chicken scratch. It's a wonder how the copyists managed to decipher any of his music...To the point it makes me wonder how much of Beethoven's music as we know it was actually his and how much of it was made up by the copyists in sheer desperation to get it finished.

[@rorrimirror]

@handavid6421 I can understand you saying Chopin's handwriting was better because he really did have excellent penmanship, but I've studied a lot of manuscripts from both Mozart and Beethoven, and I mean A LOT ...Mozart's handwriting is generally extremely neat, except for this case, which is the worst I've ever seen his during his adult life (obviously case of writing it out as fast as he could), but it is still so much better than nearly anything I've seen of Beethoven's, which again is considerable. Certainly in an original draft, anyway.

[@artoffugue333]

Alas, Amadeus was no Sebastian. Quite obvious why this work is rarely (if ever) performed. Even the second composer of all time missed a beat now & then :)

[@bartjebartmans]

Nonsense.

[@alexparkin8736]

mama mia let me go (c)

[@maxjohn6012]

That was quite astonishing! The prelude was particularly gorgeous.

[@rosannamasini2075]

Complimenti Maestro

[@jimmywalsh6701]

👌

[@jeanpaulchoppart6818]

I find that the prelude is very beautiful, but I don't like the fugue. It is excruciatingly discordant, as often when Mozart tries to write a fugue.

[@Jalapablo]

Yeah, Bach ruined fugues for me too ;)

[@Jabafish]

@@Jalapablo What do you mean?

[@fernwehn5925]

@@Jabafish He means that Bach spoiled us with fugues so good that everything else seems subpar. Thus "ruined"

[@Jabafish]

@@fernwehn5925 yeah that's very true

[@jeanpaulchoppart6818]

@@brianr.3085 I don't know if Beethoven's Grosse Fuge is excruciatingly discordant, but let me confess that I'm not impressed by Beethoven's Grosse Fuge.