Mozart: D Major Piano Sonata K576: Transcribed For Accompanied Cello

For the cellofun transcription, this magnificent sonata – Mozart‘s last one for piano – has been transposed down a fifth in order to make it more easily playable. The accompaniment parts are offered in two versions:

• as a simple keyboard score in which the left-hand is normally the same as in the original piano part but the right hand is quite empty because most of its original notes have now been given to the cello. We can fill out for this empty right hand with harmony notes or otherwise adapt these accompaniment parts to any instrument or ensemble
• a version for a second cello, making the entire sonata playable as a cello duo, or as a duo with violin or viola

The slow movement is best accompanied by a harp.

FIRST MOVEMENT: Allegro (“The Hunt” or alternatively “The Trumpet”)

What an exciting, energetic, high-intensity (and demanding) movement this is. With its hyperactive leaping, racing and jumping we could easily imagine large sections of it as circus music to accompany acrobats, jugglers, clowns or even monkeys. Often it is as though the two hands of the pianist are chasing each other at top speed through an obstacle course.

Here is an audio of this movement played on the piano but in our key (down a fifth) by the magnificent Walter Klien. This audio has been slowed down by 10% to bring it closer to a cellist’s speed, thus enabling us to potentially play along with him:

The fifth note of bars 85 and 91 in the cello part has been raised by a third, simply to avoid un-cellistic discomfort. The harmony rests unchanged and this note-change is almost unnoticeable.

1.   Cello Part: EDITED
2.            Cello Part: CLEAN
3.           Simple Keyboard Accompaniment: SCORE

1.   Accompaniment Part For Second Cello
2.           Cello Duo: SCORE

1.   Duo For Violin and Cello SCORE
2.        Violin Part

1. Duo For Viola And Cello SCORE
2.        Viola Part

1. Engraving Files (XML)

Here below is a play-along accompaniment for this movement, played on the piano. A one-bar introduction has been added so that we can know when to start playing:

SECOND MOVEMENT: Adagio

Here below is an audio of the original piano movement played by Walter Klien but transposed down a fifth into the cello key:

The “accompaniment” for this movement is very simple, consisting of the simple harmonies that are left in the piano part after the cello has stolen all the melodic lines. This accompaniment could be played on the piano, guitar (just a simple strum) or on a second cello, but is incomparably beautiful when played on the harp. The original piano part can be downloaded from imslp.org.

Here is the sheet music in our cello key (transposed down by a fifth):

1.  Edited Version
2.       Clean Version
3.       Accompaniment Score

1.  Accompaniment Part For Second Cello
2.           Cello Duo Score

1.    Duo For Violin and Cello SCORE
2.        Violin Part

1.  Duo For Viola And Cello SCORE
2.        Viola Part

1. Engraving Files (All Instruments)

And here is an audio of the play-along accompaniment, played on the harp:

THIRD MOVEMENT: Allegretto (Rondo)

This is a virtuoso movement for all players (and for both hands of the piano) because of the speed of the 16th-note triplets which start in bar 9 and fill 112 of the remaining 172 bars of the movement. Hard to play on the piano, these are even more difficult on the cello which is why this movement is also offered as a duo for cello with violin or viola, in which the cello plays the (somewhat easier) piano’s left hand.

The following recording of the original piano sonata movement played on the piano in our “cello key” is slowed down to 85% of the pianist’s (Walter Klien’s) original speed. At this slower speed we might just be able to play along with the piano but there is no way that we cellists could play it at his original speed.

Unfortunately, if we choose our tempo in such a way as to be comfortable with the 16th-note triplets, the opening theme can sound a little too slow, and vice versa: if we choose our tempo to make the opening theme sound good we are almost certain to be too fast for some of the difficult fast passages that come later.

Here below is the sheet music. This movement, like the first movement, is offered in various instrumental combinations all involving the cello:

• cello (pianist’s right hand) and simple accompaniment (pianist’s left hand)
• cello duo
• violin and cello duo
• viola and cello duo.

If the simple accompaniment is played by a pianist, you may want to fill out the right hand with harmony notes. For the duo versions with violin or viola, the cello part is the same as the lower voice of the cello duo version (the notes of the pianist’s left hand).

1. Cello Part (Pianist’s Right Hand)
2.         Accompaniment Score

1. Cello Duo Score
2.          Accompaniment Part For Second Cello (Pianist’s Left Hand)

1. Violin and Cello Duo Score
2.        Violin Part (Pianist’s Right Hand)

1. Viola and Cello Duo Score
2.             Viola Part (Pianist’s Right Hand)

1. Engraving Files (XML)

Here below are two play-along accompaniment audio files of the piano accompaniment. The first is a little slower. A one-bar piano introduction has been added to each one so that we can know when to start playing: