Piano Sonata #XIV K. 310

Review of Mozart’s A minor Piano Sonata K. 310

Next was an arrangement by the Spring Wind Quintet’s own Marsha Schweitzer of Mozart’s A minor Piano Sonata K. 310, for a most unusual quartet of oboe, English horn, bassoon, and (get this!) contrabassoon.

I have to admit being skeptical at first. After all, Mozart’s K. 310 was one of the most emotionally raw works he ever composed, exposing heart-wrenching dissonances, driven, pounding rhythms, and almost violent clashes, emotions that were usually tempered by Classicism’s elegant facade.

Instead, I was intrigued by the different perspective Schweitzer’s arrangement offered.

Played by winds, the piece is lighter, more legato and seemingly more consonant. I heard the piece in a new way, with new insights, which is precisely the point of arrangements. For example, the tempo of the second movement, with its long opening anacrusis, is usually determined by the piano’s rate of decay. On piano, and especially on the fortepiano for which the piece written, one can only play so slowly before the line disintegrates. Played by winds, however, the struggle to maintain legato is resolved, leaving the choice of tempo to the musicians. Fascinating.

— Ruth Bingham, Honolulu Advertiser