Piano Sonata in F major (fragment/compilation), K. 547a
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The so-called Piano Sonata in F major (K. 547a) is a problematic late-Mozart keyboard item, associated with Vienna in 1788 but preserved in a form that Mozart himself likely did not assemble. What survives and circulates today is a two-movement keyboard text drawn from other Mozart works, leaving its “sonata” status—and any original completeness—uncertain.
What Is Known
K. 547a is transmitted as a two-movement work for solo keyboard in F major, but modern reference sources emphasize that the sonata “in its entirety was not arranged in this form by Mozart,” even if the musical material is largely his.[1] It was issued posthumously as an “original” sonata (1799), and later identified as an amalgam assembled from pre-existing movements.[2] In Köchel Online, it is explicitly described as closely related to the Violin Sonata in F major, K. 547 and as consisting of only two movements.[3]
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Musical Content
The circulating two-movement layout is typically given as:
- I. Allegro — a solo-piano reworking of the second movement of Mozart’s Violin Sonata in F major, K. 547.[2]
- II. Allegretto — essentially the finale of Piano Sonata in C major, K. 545 transposed into F major.[1]
Heard this way, K. 547a offers an attractive “late-classical” F-major sonata surface, yet its stylistic profile is split: the opening inherits the intimate, chamber-like lyricism of K. 547, while the rondo-like close is the familiar, balanced keyboard rhetoric of K. 545—reframed in a warmer key. In Vienna at age 32, Mozart was capable of far greater pianistic density; K. 547a therefore reads less as a deliberate 1788 keyboard statement than as a practical posthumous keyboard package built from genuine Mozart material.[1]
[1] IMSLP work page: K.Anh.135/547a — movements, editorial note that Mozart did not arrange the sonata in this form
[2] Wikipedia overview: publication history (1799) and identification as an amalgam; movement origins summarized
[3] Köchel Online (Mozarteum): note linking K. 547a to Violin Sonata K. 547 and stating it consists of only 2 movements