Pieces › Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457

I. Molto allegro

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart · 1784 · C minor · 185 bars · 305 chords analysed

Mozart's dark C-minor sonata (1784); its drama looks ahead to Beethoven.

Mozart's 18 piano sonatas span his career, from Munich in 1775 to Vienna in 1789. Most have three movements — fast, slow, fast — and the first movement is usually in sonata form: two contrasting themes, a development that travels through other keys, and a return home.

Keys visited: C minor, E♭ major, F minor.