FOR THE CURIOUS CELLIST

Mozart Violin Sonata K454

Of the 16 Mozart Violin Sonatas that have been transcribed for cello on this website, this is only the second which has been transposed down in order to make it more playable on the cello (the other is K378). The transposition chosen is down a minor third, which takes us from Bb major into G major. The piano part (in the new key) is offered here.

FIRST MOVEMENT

In the “Easier Version” the high register passages (of which there are not many) have been taken down an octave and many of the tricky ornaments have been simplified. But in spite of this, the speed, lightness and agility required in both left hand and bow means that this is still by no means easy music. The only way to really make it “easy” is to play it at a slower tempo

Edited Concert Version     Clean Concert Version    Easier Version      Literal Transcription      Piano Part

SECOND MOVEMENT

This is real “late” Mozart. Complex, expressive and dramatic, it often sounds more like an opera aria than a violin sonata. It is not easy to make an “Easier Version” of this music. Only a very few passages lie in the higher register (especially after our transposition down of a minor third) so most of the “simplifications” simply concern the fingerings.

Edited Concert Version    Clean Concert Version     Easier Version     Literal Transcription    Piano Part

THIRD MOVEMENT

Quite a few significant changes have been made to the bowings (articulations) in the “Edited Concert Version” of this movement. Rather than following Mozart’s slur indications (see the Literal Transcription) I have sometimes preferred to use bowings which follow the melodic phrasing more closely, and which hopefully reproduce more clearly the way it might sound if it were simply sung or played on the piano. This is especially noticeable in the opening theme (see bars 2-3, 6-7, 10-11) and every time this theme comes back.  The same principle applies to the slur changes in bars 118-122.

Edited Concert Version     Clean Concert Version     Easier Version      Literal Transcription     Piano Part