Composing a First-Movement Cadenza for a Mozart Piano Concerto

     The understanding of a first-movement cadenza of a Mozart piano concerto is very important when one wants to compose an original one, for not doing so results in composing a cadenza that would be either way out of the composing style for his period, or way out of the typical structure of a Mozart-based piano concerto cadenza.

     Generally, a cadenza means any imporivisatory or free passage

(usually played ad libitum, which is Latin for “at pleasure,” con-

taining such virtuosic devices such as rapid scales, runs, arpeggios, trills, turns and other ornamentation, and quick changes in registers, tempos, and harmonies, with or without an organ point (such as the dominant).

     Some people interpret the word “cadenza” in different ways.

Quantz said that it was “extempore embellishment created, according to the fancy and pleasure of the performer, by a concertante part at a close of a piece on the piece on the pentultimate note of the bass.¹ On the other hand, Rosenblum said that “the term can refer to any fermata [or, “paused”, or “held”] embellishment, [but sometimes, it can refer] to brief, nonthematic ornamental passages intended as

transitions of a work as ‘lead-ins’.”²

    Moreover, the cadenza comes from the Italian name for “cadence”; when this term pertains to the first-movement piano concerto, it refers to the section starting on the tonic 6-4 (or I6-4) chord in the orchestra’s tutti, on a fermata, just before the piano has a solo, improvisatory passage (which has a “cadencial” dominant-seventh-to-tonic sequence at the end, then the orchestra comes in immediately afterwards on the tonic.)

     Kraus gives a rather good synopsis of a typica cadenza from a Mozart piano concerto in the first movement:

         Although there is no absolutely identical form traceable,

     it is safe to say that cadenzas of first movements show a

     pattern of ABA or ABC, preceded by either an introdcution

     or a short, virtuoso lead-in. This is followed by a brief

     retrospection on themes previously heard, played either by

     orchestra or the solo piano…or not yet introduced at all.³

  Moreover, Badura-Skoda, howevere, gives a clearer explanation of 

the first movement piano concerto cadenza. He says that it would 

have three main sections:⁴

    First part:”…with one of the themes [retrospected] or with 

        virtuoso  passage work…”⁵

    Second part:”…a sequential development of some important theme 

         or motive to the concerto movement… [which is followed by] 

         a number of runs, arpeggios, etc….”⁶

   Third part: “…the closing section [which usually ends] on a 

         trill.”⁷

     Why do some composers of the past and the present compose cadenzas for the first movements of Mozart’s piano concertos? One main reason, according to Badura-Skoda, is that some of Mozart’s “original cadenzas did not survive, such as the two in minor keys and the great concertos K. 482 and 503…”⁸

       For example, it was Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) who composed the cadenzas for the first and third movements of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D Minor.

    Since as Kraus said the “Mozart cadenzas [allow] the performer actually to improvise…”⁹, how should a composer write his own first-movement cadenza for a Mozart piano concerto (whether or not it would sound “Mozartean”)?

    If a composer wants to do a “Mozart-style” piano concerto cadenza, one should understand the musical structure of Mozart’s composition by looking into scores of the Mozart’s composition by looking into scores of the Mozart piano concertos which contain the cadenzas. Once the composer chooses the selected Mozart piano concerto (first-movement) cadenza that one likes to write from, he should then study the musical aspects from that cadenza that

he wishes to do in that concerto. Although originality is very important in writing such cadenzas, it is advisable to keep these things intact:

 1. The range of the Mozart is from an F1 to F6.

 2. According to Badura-Skoda, a first-movement cadenza, “with less

    spiritual depth [demands a fast tempo, preferably Allego] if they are to make the maximum effect.”¹⁰

 3. Avoid using glissando marks, false octaves, chordal intervals in one hand over an octave (except in broken passages such as arpeggios),bichords, polytonal chord clusters, and the “orchestra playing style” common in such composers of later periods as Liszt, Alkan, and Rachmaninov.

 4. Avoid parallel 7ths, 9ths, 11ths and 13^th chords (this is common in Impressionistic music of such composers as Debussy and Ravel, and in jazz and popular music). Exception—the parallel diminished 7^th chords may be used, especially in modulatory passages in a cadenza.

 5. Definitely avoid the 20^th century musical techniques common from many composers (such as Ligeti, Boulez, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Berg), for it can utterly mar the meaning of Mozart’s musical style in a cadenza.

 6. Use 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths only in dominant or in dominant

sevenths (in most cases), and make those intervals go down a step (for example, a 9^th degree of a scale would resolve to the 8^th, an 11^th degree would resolve to the 8^th, a 11^th degree would resolve to the 10^th, etc.),

    especially in resolving V or V7 chords to the tonic (I or i) or a mediant (III or iii). 

7. Some suggested harmonic techniques:

    a. the circle of fifths (including dominant-seventh sequences)

    b. transition from a major key to a minor key

    c. iib – I6 – V – I

              4 

     d. I6  - I6 – I6  - V  -I

              3    4

    e. I6 – V4 – I6

        3    2    3

    f. I – V6 – I

           5

    g. I6 – vii07 (or vice versa)

       4

    h. IV – V4 – I6

            2    3

    i. V6 – IV6 – III6 – ii6 – I6 (and vice versa)

    j. IV6 – I6- IV – I6 (and vice versa)

        3    4        3

    k. I – V7 – i (This is an example of a secondary dominant)

          -------

            vi

     This does not cover everything, but can give a good start for the composer.

8. Most importantly, it is important that first-movement cadenza end a “cadential trill’ that is, a dominant-seventh chord leading to the tonic.¹¹

9. Finally, one should study as much as possible the performance practice of Mozart’s piano music in order to get an understanding of how to execute his piano concerto cadenzas (not just how to compose it). There are some examples of this:

   a. “Contemporary evidence and present-day experience have shown         that it is preferable to be frugal rather than overgenerous          with pedaling. Successful pedaling [tends] to be terse”,¹² 

       says Rosenblum.

   b. Kraus says that unfortunately, the post-Mozart pianos, such         as those of today (such as the Steinway or the Baldwin               pianos) could not make the real Mozart sound. Perhaps, on the 

      present pianos, the soft pedal could be used to try to imitate       the “tone” of the Mozart pianos; touch should also be               adjusted(like making each forte seem a little less obvious to

      execute this.^13.

    c. Badura-Skoda says that generally, “Mozart’s trills must 

      usually be played with great sparkle and rapidly as possible…

      [they] should be played as clearly and evenly as possible. 

      Speed must on no account mean a loss of precision.”¹⁴ He also 

      says that “Mozart was very exact about tempo markings.”¹⁵ and 

      “articulation marks often hint at the appropriate

      tempo.”¹⁶

10. Add Mozart-style ornamentation, such as:

    --unprepared and prepared trills

    --the “Pralltriller” (or half-shake)

    --other types of classical ornamentation, such as appoggiaturas 

       and turns

     

    If one wants to compose a first-movement piano concerto cadenza that is out of the traditional Mozart compositional aspects, it is possible, as long as it is harmonically and musically relevant (or close to it) to Mozart’s style, and follows the pattern of the Mozart’s first-movement piano concerto already mentioned before. Some composers, as well as pianists, deviate from the Mozart’s compositional rules, by:

--bigger ranges

--bigger lengths

--crossovers

--larger textures

--more chromaticism

--more use of octaves

     In conclusion, the would-be composer of a first-movement cadenza from any Mozart piano cocnerto should be not only well-rounded in his study of Mozart’s compositional style, but also sufficient gifted to use his compositional style, but also sufficiently gifted to use his compositional skills and creativity to the fullest extent possible. No music listener would appreciate another composer’s version of a Mozart first-movement piano concerto

cadenza if it doesn’t make any musical sense.

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ENDNOTES

1. Eva and Paul Badura-Skoda. Interpreting Mozart on the Keyboard. trans. Leo Black. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1962: 216.

2. Johann Joachim Quantz, Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte tranversiere zu spielen (Berlin 1752), cha. 15, par. 1.

3. Lily Kraus, ed. The Complete Original Cadenzas For His Solo Piano Concertos. Melville: Belwin Mills Co., 1972, p. v

4. Sandra P. Rosenblum. Performance Practice in Classic Piano Music: Their Principles and Applications. Bloomington: 2 University Press, 1988; p. 28.

5. Badura 216.

6. Badura 216.

7. Badura 216.

8. Badura 215.

9. Kraus V.

10.Badura 33.

11.Badura 6.

12.Rosenblum 112.

13.Kraus V.

14.Badura 121.

15.Badura 36.

16.Badura 33.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Badura-Skoda. Eva and Paul Badura-Skoda. Interpreting Mozart on the Keyboard. trans. Leo Black. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1962: 216.

2. Kraus,Lily, ed. The Complete Original Cadenzas For His Solo Piano Concertos. Melville: Belwin Mills Co., 1972, p. v

3. Quantz, Johann Joachim. Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte tranversiere zu spielen (Berlin 1752), cha. 15, par. 1.

4. Rosenblum, Sandra P. Performance Practice in Classic Piano Music: Their Principles and Applications. Bloomington: 2 University Press, 1988; p. 28.