Piano Concerto No. 8 (Mozart)
1776 composition by W. A. Mozart
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The Piano Concerto No. 8 in C major, K. 246, nicknamed "Lützow Concert", was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in April 1776 in the same year as the Haffner Serenade (K. 250).[1]
| Piano Concerto in C major | |
|---|---|
| No. 8 "Lützow" | |
| by W. A. Mozart | |
First page | |
| Key | C major |
| Catalogue | K. 246 |
| Composed | 1776 |
| Movements | Three (Allegro, Andante, Rondeau. Tempo di Minuetto) |
| Scoring |
|
Composition
Countess Antonia Lützow, who was 25 or 26 years old at the time, was the second wife of Johann Nepomuk Gottfried Graf Lützow, the Commander of the Hohensalzburg Fortress.[2] Suitable as a work for beginners,[3] the solo work is not highly demanding, but it requires agility. Mozart played the concerto on his journey to Paris in Munich on 4 October 1777 and later in Mannheim, and used it for teaching. Three cadenzas by Mozart have survived.[4][5][6][7] Kitano concludes that the first two cadenzas, A and B in the Urtext edition, may have been written for the Countess Lützow herself to accommodate her limited technical ability, while cadenza C more resembles what Mozart might have played when he performed the work in Augsburg in 1777.[8]
It is also suggested Mozart wrote a violin concerto for Countess Lützow's brother Johann Rudolph Czernin (and almost the same age as Mozart).[9] Johann Rudolf, his sister and their father were in connection with Mozart at that time, while Mozart was in service of their uncle, Count Hieronymus von Colloredo.[10]
