FOR THE CURIOUS CELLIST

Mozart Violin Sonata K303

Although this charming sonata has only two movements, the first movement is almost like two movements in one as it contains both an Adagio and an Allegro Molto (both of which come twice).

FIRST MOVEMENT

CHANGES FROM THE LITERAL URTEXT TRANSCRIPTION

In the first movement, the double stops of bars 44-45 and 50-51 (identical) have been taken down an octave in both the “Concert” and “Easier” versions. In bar 165 the second note of the third triplet group has been lowered a tone (to G). Both of these alterations have been made to avoid unnecessary technical difficulties.

For consistency – and artistic preference – the rhythm in bars 75-78 has been applied to the equivalent parallel passage (bars 159-162) which is notated differently in the Urtext. The articulation (slur) in bar 125 has been changed to make the start of this awkward passage more simple.

In the “Easier Version” , apart from the normal octave transpositions down out of the higher regions, several passages have been seriously altered. Bars 27-30, 35-38 and their corresponding parallel passages (117-120 and 125-128) have been rewritten to avoid the difficult combination of rapid slurred string oscillations with fifths. Bar 165 has been rewritten to remove the sudden high-speed triplet machine-gun fire.

Movt I Edited Concert Version

Movt I Clean Concert Version

Movt I Easier Version

Movt I Literal Transcription

SECOND MOVEMENT

The only note changes in this movement are the conversion of the trill in bars 4 and 88 into a turn.

Movt II Edited Concert Version

Movt II Clean Concert Version

Movt II Easier Version

Movt II Literal Transcription