The First Movement from the Sonata for Piano Duet in Bb K.358 for piano 4 hands is an intermediate level piano duet. The realization plays back at a tempo of 144 quarter note (crotchet) beats to the minute. Mozart composed many piano duets which he would often perform with his elder sister Nannerl. A lightness of touch is required in a performance and all notes need to be clearly articulated. There is some lovely sharing of the melodic ideas in the ensemble. Playing Mozart requires a consistent and even approach and the avoidance of exaggerated playing. As far as the ornaments are concerned players should be imitating each other in their delivery. Trills played by both hands together do require careful practice The music editors view on the playing of ornaments is that they should be played simply, rhythmically and consistently. This is music that is very much about melody and accompaniment and it is important for players to communicate its charm and beauty. The first repeat is played in the realization and the second repeat marked in the sheet music score is typically omitted in a performance. There are not many crescendo markings evident in many of the piano duet scores available simply because much of Mozart’s keyboard music was written with the harpsichord in mind. The harpsichord is able to offer a contrasting range of dynamics but not a gradual increase (crescendo) or decrease in sound (diminuendo).The piano or more accurately the fortepiano invented by Christofori was work in progress during Mozart’s lifetime but essentially early pianos were much thinner toned instruments compared to the iron framed pianos familiar to modern ears. The fp indication loud going to soft is one more typically associated with both the instruments and piano music of Beethoven. The accompaniment downloads available enable players to enjoy an ensemble music experience playing either the Primo or Secondo parts. The Primo part sounds on the one channel of the stereo signal and the Secondo part sounds on the other. Accompaniment 1 plays at 144 quarter note beats (crotchet) to the minute, Accompaniment 2 at 132 quarter note beats (crotchet) to the minute and Accompaniment 3 at 120 quarter note beats (crotchet) to the minute There is a four bar count in featuring two different sounds of a wood block. When performing printing two pages of music onto one side of A4 offers a very practical solution for players.
