Violin Sonata in C major, K. 46d
ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト作
Mozart’s Violin Sonata in C major (K. 46d) is an early Viennese duo, written in 1768 when he was just 12. Preserved in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe among the “Duos and Trios for String and Wind,” it shows the young composer working in a compact, dance-leaning idiom rather than the later, dialogue-rich violin-and-keyboard sonata.
Mozart's Life at the Time
In 1768 the Mozart family was in Vienna, where the twelve-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was absorbing current tastes while producing an astonishing variety of music for his age. K. 46d belongs to this Viennese cluster of short instrumental works and survives in an early source tradition that places it among modest duos rather than public, virtuoso showpieces [1] [2].
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Musical Character
The sonata is in C major and laid out in three brief movements: an opening Allegro followed by two minuets (Menuet I and Menuet II) [1]. The scoring given in the standard edition is spare—violin with a bass line (often realized by cello, and potentially playable on a keyboard instrument), suggesting music intended for domestic performance and practical flexibility [1]. Musically, the emphasis falls on clear phrase structure, cadential punctuation, and courtly dance rhythm; even the concluding pair of minuets keeps the musical argument close to the ballroom, an idiom Mozart would later transform into something far more psychologically charged.
[1] IMSLP work page: movements, key, year (1768), and instrumentation summary for K. 46d.
[2] Digital Mozart Edition (Mozarteum): New Mozart Edition VIII/21 (Duos and Trios for String and Wind), English preface PDF referencing KV 46d.