Quintet for Piano and Winds in B♭ major (fragment), K. 452a
di Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s Quintet movement in B♭ (K. 452a) is an uncompleted chamber-work fragment from Vienna, dating to 1783–1784, when the composer was 27–28. Preserved on a single autograph leaf, it offers a brief glimpse of Mozart testing the colors of piano and winds in the same creative moment as his celebrated complete quintet, K. 452.[1]
What Is Known
K. 452a survives as an autograph manuscript (without an original title), not as a finished score: the source consists of one leaf with two written sides (Partitur: 1 Bl. (2 beschr. S.)).[1] The Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum lists its authenticity as verified, its transmission as extant, and its status as an uncompleted work.[1]
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
The piece is in B♭ major and is dated broadly to Vienna, 1783–1784.[1] Its instrumentation, as transmitted, is for clavier (piano) with winds—clarinet, basset horn, horn, and bassoon—a slightly darker, more reedy palette than the better-known K. 452 (which uses oboe rather than basset horn).[1]
Musical Content
With only a small amount of music surviving, K. 452a is best understood as a single “movement” draft rather than a multi-movement quintet plan.[1] Even so, the chosen ensemble suggests the kind of conversational writing Mozart was exploring in Vienna at age 28: a keyboard part capable of concerto-like prominence, set against wind colors that can blend (clarinet–basset horn) or project (horn) with great individuality. The fragment’s B♭-major tonality and mellow scoring point toward an intimate, serenade-like character, even if the manuscript breaks off before any larger formal design can fully emerge.[1]
[1] Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum (KV Online) — work entry for KV 452a “Quintet movement in B flat”: authenticity, dating (Vienna 1783–1784), key, instrumentation, and source description (autograph; 1 leaf, two written sides).