Composed 1772; 13 minutes

Until his early twenties, Mozart’s reputation was built upon his travels throughout Europe as a child prodigy, rather less so through his compositions.  He wrote and performed his own music to be included where possible on the tours – solo sonatas and variations for the most part.  His sister Nannerl, also a gifted pianist, wrote to publisher Breitkopf & Härtel after her brother’s death mentioning several early four-hand sonatas composed by Wolfgang for the two of them as children.  Only one survives (K. 19a) and it is not proven to be by Mozart – though it does include the crossing of hands shown in the family portrait.  K. 381 is the earliest of four duet sonatas to come from Mozart’s maturity.  He was 16 when he wrote it and it is tempting to think of the three-movement work as having been written for family music-making by the Mozart siblings, or, perhaps, as a teaching piece.  Either way, it is a delightful sonata, with extrovert outer movements drawing on the early Italian symphonic manner and a lyrical, sustained cantilena throughout the middle movement.  The spirited interplay between Primo and Secondo players has made the work a favorite among piano duettists.  

The Mozart family oil painting, 1780-1.  Mozart, aged 24, playing a piano duet with sister Maria Anna (Nannerl), 29.  Their late mother Anna Maria and father Leopold look on – none of them looking particularly happy.  Nannerl’s generously hooped dress makes the actual playing of a piano duet improbable, awkward at best.

In a printed preface when the first four-hand music was published (London, 1777), music historian Charles Burney requested the lady to remove the hoops from her skirt and urged her not to be embarrassed should her left-hand occasionally brush her partner’s right-hand.