Analysis of Piano Sonata No. 16

The piece I will be analyzing is the Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This nine-minute piece consists of three sections of the sonata form: the exposition, the development and the recapitulation. The three sections are notably separated by their tempo where the exposition is in allegro, the development is in andante and the recapitulation or the rondo as it’s called for this piece is in allegretto. The exposition had an overall bright, chirpy feel to it.

It is characterized by its simplicity, which is created through its basic four-four time signature, its non-complex right hand melody and it’s relatively stable mood. Likewise, the mood of the piece is also influenced by its simplicity. While listening to the main melody during the first forty four seconds, I felt as if the song was describing something innocent and playful like a puppy.

The innocence is established in the first 8 seconds where the right hand plays very few notes per measure while the left hand has a steady, rolling accompaniment of eighth notes; this simplicity is what helps set the innocent emotions.

Not to mention, the fact that the tonic of the sonata form is in C major also contributes to the innocence by keeping the mood basic and positive through the use of a major tonality. In contrast to the exposition, the development section is much more sober and the mood is of a slightly more mature nature. It gave me the impression that the innocent character of the first piece had become acquainted with the real world through life experiences and they had calmed down in a sense.

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One factor contributing to this was the Andante tempo, which made the piece slow and steady in contrast to the bubblier and more childish exposition.

Also, the time signature is three beats per measure, allowing this section to be of a slightly slower pace than the first. Another factor was the tonality where one and a half minutes in, it starts switching in and out of several different minors keys, giving this section a more serious vibe. The recapitulation had an overall feeling of satisfaction and completeness attached to the section. It seemed as if the character that had become serious in the development had finally returned to his happiness, but with less of the innocence of the exposition. Several things helped to embrace this happy-ending type mood. One of them was the themes return to the tonic, C Major, which in sonata form represents a resolution of conflict between the themes. Another is the increase in the tempo from the Andante speed of the development to the Allegretto of the Exposition, which energized the piece and in turn uplifted the mood. In addition, the main melody had two phrases where the second phrase started out like the first, but ended conclusively with a cadence (tonic-chord.com); this gave the recapitulation its characteristic feeling of satisfaction because the conclusive second phrase of the main melody helped to establish an emotional resolution with the character.