Mozart Piano Sonata Nº 3 in Bb K281: For Cello and Simple Accompaniment

Here is Mozart‘s third piano sonata K281 in Bb major, in a transcription for cello and simple accompaniment. The entire sonata has been transposed down by a minor third, bringing the outer movements into G major and the slow movement into C major. The simple accompaniments are offered in two versions: one for piano (or guitar/harp) and another for a second cello.

FIRST MOVEMENT: Allegro moderato

Mozart‘s original notation for this movement is in “half-time”, in 2/4 rather than 4/4. This means that there are many notes of very small value, which makes the score not only very black but also quite hard to read. In the cellofun version, we have chosen to use the more standard time signature of 4/4, which means that all notes are notated with double the length of Mozart’s version. Now, the more than 500 semidemiquavers (32nd notes) are notated as semiquavers (16th notes).

Engraving Files (XML)

Here is a play-along audio accompaniment. Two bars of introduction have been added so that we can know when to enter, and at what tempo. With a program like The Amazing Slowdowner, this accompaniment can be played at any speed you like.

Here is a recording of the cello version played by the transcriber with the cellofun accompaniment in a simple home recording:

And here is a recording of the cello duo version played by the transcriber in a very simple home recording:

SECOND MOVEMENT: Andante amoroso

What a curious and problematic tempo indication this “Andante amoroso” is! “Andante” means “walking”, but is our “amoroso” walking speed the speed of the eighth notes or of the dotted quarter notes? It would seem that neither is appropriate: if we play the eighth notes at a walking speed then our tempo is very slow, whereas if we play our dotted quarter notes at a walking speed (as though the movement was conducted with only one beat per bar), then our tempo is quite fast. Is it possible that our walking speed could be a duplet rhythm, with two steps (pulses) per bar. This would be an interesting choreography.

Perhaps however, the “amoroso” does in fact suggest a very slow, meandering, one-beat per bar pulse representing long, slow, deep gazing into the eyes between the lovers while the faster melodic rhythm (above the harmonic pulse) represents the underlying (latent) physiological excitement of the encounter.

Engraving Files (XML)

Here is play-along harp accompaniment with a two-bar introduction. With a program like “The Amazing Slowdowner”, this accompaniment can be played back at any tempo.

And here is a recording of the cello version played by the transcriber with the cellofun accompaniment in a simple home recording:

And here is a simple home-recording of the cello duo version:

THIRD MOVEMENT: Rondo Allegro

We could perhaps ornament the later reappearances of the Rondo theme, to give a little more interest and humour to this sparkling movement, for example:

Engraving Files (XML)

Here is play-along accompaniment with an 8-beat introduction (starting in the middle of the bar). With a program like “The Amazing Slowdowner”, this accompaniment can be played back at any tempo. Some notes have been added to the piano part in order to give us the tempo references to know when to enter after pauses and other tempo hiatuses. In bar 43, played ad lib as a mini-cadenza with accelerando back into the main theme, there is a piano bass note on each of the seven half notes (minim beats). After the pause (fermata) in bar 65, the piano plays two quarter-notes at the end of the bar so that we can know when to play our upbeat to the next bar.

And here is a recording of the cello version played by the transcriber with the cellofun accompaniment in a simple home recording:

And finally, here is a recording of the cello duo version: