Piano Concerto No. 9 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Piano Concerto No. 9 in E major, K. 271, during the winter of 1777. He was only twenty-one years old when he finished the work in January of that year. This piece emerged after a nine-month gap following his previous concerto in C major. The composer had produced few significant compositions during this intervening period. Salzburg served as the backdrop for this creative burst. Victoire Jenamy stood at the center of the composition's origin story. She was the daughter of Jean-Georges Noverre and a skilled pianist herself. Mozart performed the concerto at a private concert on the 4th of October 1777. Jenamy may have premiered the work even earlier than that public performance.
The score calls for solo piano accompanied by two oboes and two French horns in E. Strings complete the orchestral forces required for the piece. Three movements structure the entire work from beginning to end. The first movement opens with an unusual intervention by the soloist. This early entrance anticipates later works by Beethoven like his Fourth and Fifth Concertos. Cuthbert Girdlestone noted in 1964 that departures from convention continued throughout the movement. A style of dialogue between piano and orchestra defines the rest of the Allegro section. Mozart wrote two cadenzas specifically for this movement and the subsequent one. The second movement shifts into the relative minor key. Only five of Mozart's piano concertos feature a second movement in a minor key. These include K. 41, K. 271, K. 456, K. 482, and K. 488. The third movement returns to rondo form on a large scale. It begins with the solo piano playing alone. A slow minuet section interrupts the flow in the subdominant key of A major. Mozart repeated this procedure in his twenty-second concerto written in 1785.
Charles Rosen described the work as perhaps the first unequivocal masterpiece of the classical style. Alfred Brendel called it one of the greatest wonders of the world. Vivien Schweitzer reported these assessments in The New York Times during April 2012. Ludwig Einstein dubbed the piece Mozart's Eroica. Cuthbert Girdlestone argued that while the slow movement represented a great leap forward, it remained somewhat limited. He believed the work as a whole did not equal the piano concertos from the composer's peak years in Vienna between 1784 and 1787. Simon P Keefe offered a more recent summation of the concerto. He characterized it by conciseness of thematic development and depth of expression. Keefe highlighted exuberant virtuosity especially evident in the finale. This level of virtuosity surpassed anything witnessed in his preceding piano concertos. Critics continue to debate whether the work equals his best compositions overall.
The work has long been known as the Jeunehomme Concerto. Théodore de Wyzéwa and Georges de Saint-Foix claimed Mozart wrote the piece for an unnamed French pianist. They used the name Jeunehomme which means young man in French but also serves as a common surname. Michael Lorenz demonstrated in 2004 that the dedicatee was actually Victoire Jenamy. She lived from 1749 until 1812 and was a French virtuoso. Her father Jean-Georges Noverre was one of Mozart's friends. The confusion arose because Mozart and his father referred to her variously in letters. They called her the jenomy, Madame jenomè, or Madame genomai. Wyzéwa and Saint Foix had to base their work on prior transcriptions of these letters. They were denied access to the originals by a difficult and unco-operative archivist. These earlier researchers changed her title from Madame to Mademoiselle. This shift indicated she was unmarried rather than married. The reasons for this change remain a mystery to historians today.
Michael Lorenz published research in 2006 proving the concerto was written for a specific individual. His essay appeared in Essays for the Mozart Exhibition 2006 at the Da Ponte Institut in Vienna. Pages 423 through 429 contain his detailed findings. Mozart became familiar with Jenamy when she performed in Salzburg during December 1776. He heard her reputedly splendid playing firsthand. The scholar traced the historical confusion between an unnamed pianist and Victoire Jenamy directly. He showed that the Jeunehomme identity was a misinterpretation of available documents. Lorenz demonstrated that the dedication belonged to Jenamy all along. This resolution clarified decades of misunderstanding regarding the piece's origins. The research settled questions about who actually commissioned the work from the young composer.
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Common questions
When did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart complete his Piano Concerto No. 9?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Piano Concerto No. 9 in E major, K. 271 during the winter of 1777. He finished the work specifically in January of that year while he was twenty-one years old.
Who is the dedicatee of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9?
Michael Lorenz proved in 2006 that the dedicatee of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 was Victoire Jenamy. She lived from 1749 until 1812 and was a French virtuoso pianist who performed in Salzburg during December 1776.
What instruments are required for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9?
The score for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 calls for solo piano accompanied by two oboes and two French horns in E. Strings complete the orchestral forces required for the piece along with these wind instruments.
Why is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 known as the Jeunehomme Concerto?
Théodore de Wyzéwa and Georges de Saint-Foix claimed Mozart wrote the piece for an unnamed French pianist named Jeunehomme which means young man in French. Michael Lorenz later demonstrated this name was a misinterpretation because the dedication actually belonged to Victoire Jenamy all along.
How many movements does Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 contain?
Three movements structure the entire work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 from beginning to end. The second movement shifts into the relative minor key while the third movement returns to rondo form on a large scale.