Violin Sonata No. 30 in C major (fragment; completed by M. Stadler), K. 403
av Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s Sonata in C major for keyboard and violin, K. 403 (Vienna, 1784), is a rare case among the violin sonatas: a substantial work that survives with an incomplete finale later finished by Abbé Maximilian Stadler. Written when Mozart was 28, it belongs to the high-pressure Viennese period of 1784, when chamber music, keyboard virtuosity, and publication prospects were tightly intertwined.
What Is Known
K. 403 is transmitted as an autograph dating from 1784 and scored for violin and keyboard (clavier/piano) [1]. The sonata comprises three movements, with the first two surviving complete, while the third breaks off in Mozart’s hand and was completed by Abbé Maximilian Stadler (1748–1833) [2]. A contemporary estate description already distinguishes Mozart’s completed opening movements from an ending “finished by someone else,” and it notes an Andante that leads directly into an Allegretto finale (i.e., an attacca link) [3].
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Musical Content
The surviving work projects an unusually “finished” profile for a fragment: a full opening Allegro moderato, followed by an Andante that moves without pause into the finale [2]. In keeping with Mozart’s Viennese violin sonatas, the keyboard writing appears to carry the principal harmonic and rhetorical weight, with the violin in a refined, partner-like role rather than as a concerto-style protagonist [1]. Mozart’s fragment in the third movement runs only through the opening 19 measures (reaching the first notes of bar 20), after which Stadler supplies the continuation—making the finale the clearest seam between Mozart’s 1784 voice and later “completion” practice [2].
[1] Mozarteum Köchel catalogue entry for KV 403 (key, instrumentation, autograph notice).
[2] IMSLP work page for Violin Sonata in C major, K. 403/385c (movement list; extent of Mozart’s fragment and Stadler completion).
[3] G. Henle Verlag preface (PDF) for *Violin Sonatas, Fragments* HN 1039: estate description and note of the attacca Andante→Allegretto; Stadler’s completion mentioned.