W. A. Mozart: Prelude (Fantasy) and Fugue in C major KV 394. - Apor Szüts - (WITH SCORE)

[@ricardoamez1608]

Mozart never ceases to amaze. This fugue is reminiscent of the baroque, but upgraded with Mozart's unique touch. The strettos are masterfully accomplished, the modulations are impeccable. Fine counterpoint, second-to-none except Bach.

[@SirVTropic]

Thank God it's no characteristic of Mozart

[@EduardMennodeBoer]

4:25 start of fugue

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

Thank you.

[@ValzainLumivix]

@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven ok.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@ValzainLumivix ok.

[@orb3796]

​​@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven ok.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@orb3796 ok.

[@gogpoydi]

This piece is absolutely amazing, holy shit

[@aperson6934]

4:24 fugue

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

Thanks, a person.

[@CartmanBrah]

This is so ahead of its time! Incredible.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

Indeed. It is very innovative in regards to dissonance.

[@pinkfloyddwc]

More like behind its time since it’s baroque style

[@classictastic]

@@pinkfloyddwcI think cartmanbrah was talking about the fantasy/prelude

[@civanacikalin7664]

Right from the second note, you know it's gonna be an unusual ride :)

[@pe-peron8441]

Not unusual for Mozart hahah. It's always like that, I love him dearly

[@m.erubik]

Good work, this is one of my favorite mozart's piece

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

I concur!

[@civanacikalin7664]

I think this is a brilliant interpretation of this piece !! 👏🏼👏🏼 When I heard this fugue for the first time, it was a recording by the great Glenn Gould, and tbh i was a bit disappointed that he played it too fast and forte. When Mozart sent the score to his sister with a letter, he wrote “..I have purposely written Andante Maestoso on top of it so that it won’t be played too fast - for if a fugue is not played slowly one cannot hear the entering theme clearly enough and it loses its effect”. I think that’s a clear statement that one cannot really ignore, when attempting to play this piece.

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

...and then did he not write about excrement dripping down the chin? (i joke not - he was an ascatologist - google it)

[@DanielFahimi]

@@militaryandemergencyservic3286 "(i joke not - he was an ascatologist - google it)" You clearly show that you don't know that EVERY German was like that at the time.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@militaryandemergencyservic3286 And how exactly does this serve as invective against Mozart? It was common back then to have dirty humor, and even books for children were filled with such content. I find it hilarious that people try to denounce Mozart for having such tendencies even though most people during that time did.

[@dustinlaferney3160]

I read the quote you mentioned in a book I am currently reading , "Mozart: The Man and the Artist as Revealed in His Own Words" by Friedrich Kerst. I had never heard of this piece and looked it up immediately after I heard it mentioned in the book. I wanted to hear his attempt at a prelude + fuge, and it is amazing! I have thought Mozart to be inferior to Beethoven, even CPE Bach; just a lackey writing background music for gatherings of his social betters. I no longer think this to be the case after exploring more of his work, particularly his early religious works and gems like this one. I think Sebastian Bach would smile at this one.

[@ignacioclerici5341]

@@dustinlaferney3160 right, theres a reason he's held by almost everyone as one of the greatest if not the greatest composer of all, for more than 200 years

[@mihawkdrakule3869]

Best performance I've heard

[@jsbrules]

Thanks to Constanze for getting Mozart to write that masterly fugue, which in turn inspiring that great prelude! I know none of it sounds much like Mozart, but I bet his improvs sounded a lot lke the prelude (fantasy)

[@DanielFahimi]

This Fantasia is definintley improv. Same with all of his fantasies.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

I think it’s quite evident that this was improvised, judging from the structure of the fantasy. The manuscript also looks to have been written hastily, possibly because Mozart or his copyist (the latter is unlikely since Mozart didn’t trust copyists very much) had to write it down quickly in order to preserve it.

[@DanielFahimi]

@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven Where did you find the autograph of the fantasia?

[@ignacioclerici5341]

@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven but how can you write down 2000 notes that you improvised and know and even remember exactly every note You played? It sounds impossible, even for Mozart. Or do you mean that he improvised a bit, wrote it down, then improvised the next part etc etc?

[@Zimzamzoom95]

@@ignacioclerici5341 It's not as difficult as it sounds. When you improvise something and write it down, you don't have to remember every single note individually. You remember the 'chunk' you played, say a cadence, and think of the lines you played. Especially in tonal music, which has very standard procedures, you can remember big chunks of music by understanding the contrapuntal implications of each line and all of a sudden there isn't that much to memorize.

[@gonzadiazsola]

When the right hand starts playing chords in triplets, it reminded me of Supertramp. Mozart was born posthumous.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

What is ‘Supertramp’?

[@ttwiligh7]

This C Major Fugue sounds like almost entirely in minor key. It starts and ends with C major, but nothing indicates complete joy and happiness. It isn't even melancholic, it is clearly lonely and depressing like he tried to smile and failed. Mozart was too sensitive to be like Bach who had total control over switching joy and sorrow. That's how I hear this piece.

[@darrenfreeman4936]

Thats really insightful. I could hear something off with the piece but couldn't express it. The theme itself is really uninteresting and I'm sure mozart could have come up with something better but perhaps it was intentional, a simple theme to make the counterpoint easier where he was still learning the style. His usual treatment of C major is majestic as in the Jupiter symphony or naive joy like k545 but I don't hear any of that brightness here.

[@jocelynreinhardt4093]

This is why Mozart preferred Handel's fugal style to Bach's because Handel's fugues seemed to him more lively. When towards the end of his life Mozart managed to write solid fugues (Kyrie from the Requiem) their style was more like Handel (cf. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZ3GaXR5mLBolbc ) than Bach.

[@josiah566]

The story behind this particular K394 seems to be (variously from things I've read) that in April of 1782, Mozart wrote to his sister Nannerl that Constanze, his wife-to-be (they were married in August but Mozart was living with the Webers for some time), loved Bach and Handel's fugues from Mozart playing quality scores borrowed from Baron Von Swieten. Mozart then claims that Constanze had scolded him for not writing any of his own, and thus he sat down to write K394 amongst others that presumably later went to Baron Von Swieten as thanks for the scores and for the socials Mozart attended where only Handel and Bach were played. However, that may not have a bearing as context for which this particular theme and fugue - and its rather morose timbre - are written as in that letter, Mozart felt he was being asked to write down fugues he had previously developed only in his head - so the ideas could have come to him during various other parts of his earlier life, just never having been written down as prior to those Handel and Bach socials, Mozart didn't feel strongly for the genre of prelude and fugue.

[@nottinghillad]

I find the entire fugue to be consistently pensive, yet tense, and intellectual

[@elmiramuradova561]

Грандиозно и очень волнительно ,даже трепетно. Grand fantasy...

[@SirVTropic]

The fugue is the first work by Mozart I actually like

[@musicoscope]

an amazing performance! so musical and deep, bravissimo!

[@coffeecomicsnerd7181]

A beautiful piece written for Constanze Webber by Mozart, her...shall we say boyfriend, at the time of April 20th 1782, and fascinating to hear for sure. 💜

[@Kastanhadopara]

Achou que não ia ter um comentário em português?

[@amburgacker]

Brillant, lumineux !

[@niklaskafer5653]

The theme of the fugue reminds me a lot of the finale in Wagners Siegfried. I actually imagine, that Wagner took an inspiration here...

[@isaacparlin3070]

Amazing observation!

[@magarac99]

❤Wolfie!!

[@jqness4461]

Okay, today my teacher gave the the sheet of this piece. I really like it but....wtf, its really hard man

[@BlackBladed]

Mozart wrote it for his older sister Marianne to perform, and she was one of the best keyboardists of her time. It's definitely designed for her to show off.

[@DanielFahimi]

@@BlackBladed LOL, I like how people makeup stories about history and pass them off as facts. 1. Mozart didn't write this for Nannerl to perform. This piece was written at the request of his fiance. Mozart just sent the piece to Nannerl after that for her to check the piece out. 2. Nannerl was definitely not even close to being the best keyboardists of her time. 3. This piece isn't even that hard lmao. The adagio from the fantasia could have been sight-read by any amateur. The andante of the fantasia is just a series of repetitive patterns (Which is also sight-readable). Sure there are some very brief moments that are a bit difficult to perform cleanly if you haven't practiced the piece sufficiently. The fugue is actually the challenging part. It still isn't a piece that should be used to show off. The challenge literally is memorizing it correctly, producing a satisfactory interpretation, playing it gracefully and majestically and in such a way where every note is audible. It's not anywhere close to being virtuosic.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@BlackBladed It’s actually amusing to me how you manage to derive such contrived information from historical references. First of all, who said that this was written for Nannerl to perform? She did not pursue a widespread career in music as an adult, so I don’t know what you’re talking about when you say that she was one of the greatest keyboardists of her time. This sounds like the unsubstantiated myth that Nannerl was somehow greater in regards to talent than Wolfgang was. Also, the piece came from Mozart’s revived interest in contrapuntal writing via his rediscovery as an adult of the Baroque masters Bach and Handel via Van Swieten. Nannerl was NOT who he wrote the piece for. He wrote it to serve himself in the area of counterpoint. Additionally, I would hardly say that this is a show-off piece. The Fantasia is incredulously easy to perform with musicality, EVEN BY 1780s standards (Mozart wrote this in 1782). Out of all the great 18th century keyboardists such as Clementi, W.A. Mozart, Beethoven, Hummel, Czerny, and many more, you choose NANNERL MOZART??? Absurd. The fugue also isn’t a show-off piece, even if it is difficult to nail down with musicality. Bach even wrote more difficult fugues than this. I would not say that his fugues are for showing off. That honestly defeats the purpose of art. Mozart despised virtuosity for the sake of virtuosity, and thus would never have written something needlessly virtuosic. If you’re talking about the fact that he sent this piece to Nannerl after he composed it, you could argue the same about many of his other works, since he ALSO sent copies of them to her. To reiterate, your claims are unsubstantiated.

[@DanielFahimi]

@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven "Wolfgang wrote a number of works for Marianne to perform, including the Prelude and Fugue in C, K. 394 (1782). Until 1785, he sent her copies of his piano concertos (up to No. 21) in St. Gilgen." I think this is where he got the disinformation "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_Mozart"

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@DanielFahimi There’s no footnote nor source for the quote on the linked website, so I do agree that he was misinformed. Besides, it’s quite evident that Mozart composed it to revisit counterpoint after meeting with van Swieten.

[@calebhu6383]

Schumann's Sonata No.3 could have been inspired by parts of this work

[@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

And the fugue could have inspired the fugato in Feinberg's 11th sonata.

[@Whatismusic123]

mozart would never be inspired by trash like Schumann

[@calebhu6383]

1:07

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

1:08

[@voxveritatis3815]

Mozart's remarkable skills for fugues and counterpoint coexist with Bach's and Haendel's influence but do not depend on them. He was a pupil of the best Europe's counterpoint master at that time, father Martini. And a close friend of many notorious musicians. It shows kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHjSimt5Yr-eipI

[@A_Muzik]

4:26 to skip to the fugue

[@manduker]

Chulada!!...

[@louisvalencia5244]

The prelude reminds me a little to Tannhauser

[@1964ALCOZER]

Tema della fuga è praticamente Bach Clavicembalo ben temperato vol. 2 MI BEM MAGG. N. 7 BWV 876. Che dimostra come anche Mozart studiasse il grande Johann Sebastian.

[@nottinghillad]

They are entirely different

[@freakshow1997]

The Fuga reminds of Bach (but then, almost all fugues do :) )

[@DanielFahimi]

Not really. Check out the Double Fugue Kyrie from the requiem. Then check out grosse fuge. Then check out the fugue for the 2 pianos in C Minor by Mozart. Then check out the 2nd movement of Beethoven's ninth symphony. Then check out the fugato from Totentanz. Then check out the fugato from Liszt's B Minor Sonata. Then check out the fugato from the Hammerklavier Sonata by Beethoven.

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

@@DanielFahimi you cited Beethoven twice. Three times, sorry. Basically all fugues DO sound like Bach.

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

yes, kind sir, this fugue is indeed almost exactly like your average Bach fugue from his 48. and yes, you are also correct, grande dame, that almost all fugues do indeed remind us of Bach. Almost all.

[@DanielFahimi]

@@militaryandemergencyservic3286 You are actually telling me that fugatos in 9th symphony sound like Bach?

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

@@DanielFahimi went on your channel. Who is the pianist? doesnt seem like its you. MMMmmmmm.....

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

This is extremely similar to the C Major Fugue from Book 1 of the WTC!

[@ValzainLumivix]

Yes.

[@michelcamachomusic]

Exactly it seems like he took the pattern or subject from that fugue and made his own version over it

[@MajesticFerret]

The Fantasie part is amazing. The fuge part...not so much.

[@iaeud5401]

Is there more difficult Mozart’s piano piece than this?? This is hugely difficult to play perfectly! I think this is more difficult than Chopin 10-4.

[@DanielFahimi]

Yes, Mozart K. 450, K. 457, K. 466, K. 595, K. 395, K. 576, and K. 533 are also very challenging.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@DanielFahimi I just don't see how K.466, K.595, and K.450 are difficult.

[@DanielFahimi]

@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven LOL, I actually think that K. 450 along with K. 576 are the only Mozart works on the keyboard that are technically demanding (to a degree because they're not virtuosic, just tricky). K. 450 is difficult because of the final movement. K. 576 is difficult because of obvious reasons.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@DanielFahimi I think I’ve told you this, but I studied the score and tried playing the hardest parts of K.450 on my piano. It wasn’t very difficult, to be honest.

[@DanielFahimi]

@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven Of course. If you can play all of Beethoven's sonatas, then this concerto would be a cakewalk for you.

[@minema7953]

Dont think slow music is easy.Think it in mozart way.

[@ludwigvanbeethoven8164]

Is this CMajor?😂

[@jaredbaum]

it starts there 😂

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

It seems to possess a much darker tone than C Major would imply.

[@ludwigvanbeethoven8164]

This sounds something from chopin. Wtf. Mozart definitely sold his soul to the devil so he died at and early age. Also the beginning is exaclty Beethoven's 17th sonata 1st movement with the triplets...im learning that right now

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

I find that people often liken early-middle Beethoven to Mozart; I find this to be true, but try to derive a single Mozart work from the late Beethoven quartets, symphonies, or sonatas.

[@DanielFahimi]

@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven Beethoven's 32nd sonata(First movement) is homage to Mozart's Adagio and Fugue in C Minor

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@DanielFahimi Yes, but its development, use of dissonance, and transformations of the theme are completely different. Yes, it’s contrapuntal, but the permutations attempted to be done to the theme are executed in other ways.

[@DanielFahimi]

@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven Yes, but I'm just saying Mozart's influences never suddenly disappeared in Beethoven.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@DanielFahimi True, but most of his late work is quite different.

[@artemmelnik7965]

Much better at 1.5 speed.

[@MontagTheMagician]

great playing. But tonality is echo-y reverb-y shit.

[@ShelbyBryant]

Too fast

[@Composer_]

Anyone else thinks the fugue sounds a little clunky compared to ones by Bach? I think the most disturbing thing is seconds. I wonder why Mozart used them so much here Also he used alot of octaves in the bass and some triads

[@jacobmarley1000]

Clunky? I guess you could make the case that it doesn't quite have the pure sound that Bach's fugues do, but I think this fugue is a good example of Mozart's creativity and groundbreaking style. Like you pointed out, his use of seconds, particularly in the latter part of the piece, is something you don't hear very much. But I think it does a good job of giving the piece more tension, a more dissonant buildup to the very tonal ending. The man was truly ahead of his time.

[@DanielFahimi]

🙄🙄🙄 You clearly haven't listened to Bach.

[@ttwiligh7]

@@jacobmarley1000 Mozart clearly leaned to the use of tensions from Bach, but applied in different places. The opening movement of English suite in g minor by Bach for instance, is full of tensions on the strong beats, which emphasis the rhythmic dynamics and propel the movement. Also in BWV 541's fugue, beautiful seconds occurs on beat 3 of bar 5 and 6, that increase the brilliance of harmony even more in major key. But Mozart seemed to use those seconds for different purpose, or can't mimic what Bach had done. Dissonant stays dissonant and doesn't really resolve cleanly like he deliberately put some stones on the road. I don't really know if it crates the beauty but it certainly embarrasses my ears. Mozart must had different sense that I don't quite understand. To be honest, this piece sounds a little twisted to me, like he wanted to learn new style, but something deep down resisted the attempt.

[@pe-peron8441]

​@ttwiligh7 Not a problem, dissonance is not to everybody's taste. Schoenberg said that his life goal was to emancipate dissonance through dodecaphony, and also, as a kind of dedication to his string quartets, that he owed no more to any other composer than to Mozart, and for my part, the similarities between the two are extremely radical, though obviously suffused by the passage of time that has distanced them Bach is an undisputed giant in history, and essentially the creator of the tonal system; and as such he had unrivalled control over it, as evident from his ability to distance himself from it ad libitum without the slightest problem, with lush chromaticisms and articulate dissonances, but always within the system, never even thinking of stepping outside of it. Mozart is a completely different beast, and although I adore him to the skies, it is perfectly understandable how some can prefer the more systematic and reassuring approach of Bach, who is and remains a giant, as I said, but in my opinion has never composed a piano piece as radical, penetrating and, why not, even twisted, as you have defined it, as this stupendous fantasy and fugue by Mozart

[@michaelsolomon6594]

Boring fugue 🥱

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

we must never forget that not everything Mozart wrote was good...

[@VexaS1n]

but this is a brilliant piece.

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

@@VexaS1n maybe

[@ludwigvanbeethoven8164]

This is my favorite piece. Fuck you

[@ymaysernameuay1113]

@Frédéric Chopin hold your horses there buddy...

[@ymaysernameuay1113]

@Frédéric Chopin Nah he's the best composer of all time! There's a reason why Chopin played Bach every day and made his students study Bach.

[@bruh7847-f5k]

4:24 Fugue

[@jcl9792]

4:25