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Improvised Embellishments in Mozart's Keyboard MusicAuthor(s): Robert D. LevinSource: Early Music, Vol. 20, No. 2, Performing Mozart's Music III (May, 1992), pp. 221-233Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3127879
Accessed: 25/07/2010 23:53
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7/23/2019 Improvised Embellishments in Mozart's Keyboard Music
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Robert D. Levin
Improvised
embellishments
n
M o z a r t s
k e y b o a r d
m u s i c
i
?
:
::• i~ii~i:i ,i:i~iiiii-i;
i~ii
i i•i5iiiiii
....
1
E.
Schutz,
Mozart
laying
or friends
n
Salzburg.
Water-
colour,
.178o
Salzburg,
MuseumCarolino
Augusteum)
The
advent
of
performances
on
historical nstruments
has
wrought
a
fundamental
change
in the
experience
of
listenersand
performers.
Assumptions
about
mattersof
tempo,
articulation,
character,
sonority,
texture
and
inflection have been
challengedby
the
growing
convic-
tion that
the
language
of
a
period
is
intimately
related o
its instruments of execution. It is remarkable hat the
public
has
accepted
his
transformation
f
a
span
of
rep-
ertory
that
has
already
reachedwell into the Romantic
era with far
greater
enthusiasm
than
traditionally
trained
musicians,
whose
early
2oth-century
aesthetic
bias seems to
be a
more
reactionary
element than the
attitude
of listeners.
Perhaps
his
gap
in
attitude
and
acceptance
s related
to the
disparity
between
the
rapid
strides we have wit-
nessed
in
the
mastery
of
historic instrumentsversusthe
slow
progress
n
reinstating
he
18th-century ractice
of
improvisation.
The fact is that all musicians
today,
regardless
of their
preference
of instrument
(historical
versus
'modern'-the
latterword
being
of course ten-
dentious),
are
products
of a
system
of
conservatory
training
that
stresses technical
security
over
imagina-
tion,
and absolute
respect
or
the
sanctity
of
the
printed
text
over
creativity.
The
decline
in
the
stringency
of
music
theory
requirements
n
schools
throughout
the
world has led to a situation n which
performers
master
the
syllabic
surface
of
the
works
they
play
without suf-
ficient
knowledge
of
the
language
hat
underpins
t. No
wonder, then,
that
it
is still
relatively
are
to
hear a
per-
formance
of Classical music
that
goes beyond
the
printed
page;
and when
it
does,
the embellishmentsand
cadenzas
presented
are
usually
the
product
of
careful
preparation
rather than risk-laden
spontaneity.
How
discouraging
t is that the lack of freedom
in
perform-
ances of art
music-practised
by
performers
with
years
of
training-results
in
far less communicative
power
thanjazzandpopularmusic,whoseequallydazzlingvir-
tuosi
are
often
unable
to read music but honour their
instincts and
always
use their
language
actively.
f
visits
to concerts often seem
indistinguishable
rom attend-
ance at
church,
t is becausewe have
prizedheritage
over
its content.
Mozart'smusic
possessed
none of this
patina
when it
was written.His
letters
reveala master
showman,
poised
to
delight,
astonish,
confound and move
his
audience.
Virtually very
istener
heard
he
typical
Mozart
work in
1780s
Vienna
for
the
first
time;
there was
none of
the
sense
of
the
classic
subsequently
ascribed
o his
music.
Norshould weforget hat Mozart's irtuosityas apianist
was
prized
above his
composing,
and
his
abilitiesas an
improviser
stood above both
of
these
in the
public's
esteem.
If
performers
have been slow
to realize
hat true
rhetorical
fluency
in Mozart's
language
cannot be
achievedwithout
mastering
ts
vocabulary
nd
syntax,
t
is
precisely
because our current
teaching-and
the
values
of
a music
industry
defined
by
competitions
and
EARLY MUSIC
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1992
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recordings-stifle risk-taking
and
invention. Yetwe are
in a better
position
to
define
and
understandMozart's
language
than his
contemporaries,
hanks to the inter-
vening
changes
of
style
and the distance of
time. The
existence of cadenzas and embellishments
by
Mozart
himself,
and
of
contemporary
reatises
giving
exhaustive
prescriptions
or embellishmentsand
cadenzas,
give
us
all the informationrecessary o masterhis language.'
Nonetheless,
musicologists
continue to
debate the
appropriateness
of
introducing
embellishments-pre-
pared
or
improvised-into
modern
performances,
pointing
out
that
reviews
n
the Classical
period
often
decried
the ornamentation
wrought
by
individual
per-
formers.
Furthermore,
ome modern
scholars,
having
come of
age
with
performances
devoid
of
any
embel-
lishment,
display
a
musical taste uninfluenced
by
their
research. It should be obvious to historian and
per-
formeralike hat the
validity
of
a
practicedepends
upon
the
skill with which it
is
carried
out. Ornamentation s
most effectivewhen it
is
fully organic
to the
expressive
and dramaticcontent
of
the
work;
it
is
not an external
process
carried out
upon
a
piece.
A
performer
with a
thorough understanding
of harmonic
progression
and
voice-leadingpossesses
the
prerequisites
or
the assim-
ilation
of
Mozart's
personal
anguage.
This in
turn is the
precondition
for the
ability
to
improvise
idiomatic
embellishments.
The
more
aware
one
becomes
of
the
idiosyncrasies
of
each
composer,
the more vivid one's
characterizations
and embellishments become.
The
melodic elaborations avoured
by
Mozart n his
Salzburg
years
are not
always
employed
n the Vienna
works,
and
his
overall
practice
will
not
necessarily
work with
equal
success n compositionsby his contemporaries.ndeed,
certain ornaments are
peculiar
to
specific composers
and
help
define their
style.
Embellishment
s
fundamentally
tactile,
physical
act
that
cannot
be
mastered
by analysis only.
Like an
apprentice
jazz
musician,
the would-be
improviser
in
the Classical
tyle
must
develop superior
reflexesand an
appropriate
ocabulary
f melodic
patterns
drawn rom
the
models
he or she wishes to
emulate.
The
difference
between
a
performer
who
prepares
embellishments
or
cadenzas
and
one
who
improvises
hem is
analogous
o
the difference
between
the
beginning language
student
who can
only replicate
sentences taken from a
phrase
book,
and one who has
progressed
o the
point
at
which
it is
possible
to
leap
into
the
creativeworld
of
defining
thoughts
within the new
language.
Whether
mprovised
or
prepared
n
advance,
embel-
lishments added
by
the
performer
are
an
essential
ele-
FONDAZIONE
GIORGIO
CINI
Istituto
per
la
Musica
A_:
?
V?,i
1 -
1.0000
ANDREA
GABRIELI
[1533]-
1585
OPERA OMNIA
CRITICAL
EDITION
4
Volumes
of historical
and
critical
ntroduction
and
18 volumes
of
works
published
in vita
(1-10)
and
posthumous
works
(11-18)
POSTHUMOUS
WORKS
Volume
11
(1597)
Concerti
di
Andrea,
et
di Gio.
Gabrieli
..
libro
primo
et secondo
Venezia,
Angelo
Gardano
1587
Edited
by
David
Bryant
1st
Book
134665
2nd Book 134666
Already
published:
HYSTORICAL
AND
CRITICAL
NTRODUCTION
I.
The
"years
of
Gabrieli":biography
nd
chronology
(G.
Benzoni,
D.
Bryant,
M.
Morell) 134347)
WORKSPUBLISHED
IN VITA
w o
8
Lower
James
Street,
London
W1R
3PL
phone:
01 287
5060
R I C O ( R D I
Volume
9.
Psalmi
Davidici
(1583)
(tD.
Arnold,
D.
Bryant)
(134348)
222
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Ex.i Rondo in A
minor,
K511;
ive variants of
principal
theme
(a)
Andante
P
p
•
_•*
•
_
_ _
_ _
_
crcre
scen-
do
p
crc
.
sc -d
(b)
cre - - scen - - do
p
-
•
-
•
•
•
.
...
-
-,
_,
•
•
•
•_--
..-_----_----,
cre
-
scen
-
do
f3
cr cree cendo p
(c)
creescendodof
r. r . r.
I
r. .
rc
ceeendo
p
.
EARLY MUSIC MAY
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(d)
129
crescendo
tr
C
crescendo
f
(e)
151
C_
_D
C
crescendo,
p
_-'-
_
~ ~
n~i-~:
__:
-
_
1
---"--
'
-
--
"---
crescendo
,g
z r
i-
j K
ment
in Classical
music.
The amount
of ornamentation
required
from
the
performer
depends
upon
the ornate-
ness
of the
melody:
at
times
the amount
of elaboration
in
the
original
text
precludes
additional
ornamentation.
An
oft-neglected
element
of
idiomatic
improvisation
is
the
observance
of the
five-octave
range
of Mozart's
instrument.
Embellishments
and cadenzas
that
other-
wise cohere
to
Mozart's
language
yet
stray beyond
these
limits
will strike the
perceptive
listener as
faulty.
There are generic places where embellishment is most
likely
to be desirable.
The most salient
of
these
is the
return
of the
principal
theme
in
sonatas,
and
especially
rondos.
It
is instructive to
collate
Mozart's
written-out
decorations
of a
work such as the
Rondo
in
A
minor,
K511
(ex.i).
Such
decorations
provide
invaluable
examples
of
spontaneity
captured
on the
page.
It is
critical to
understand
the
relationship
between
Mozart's written-out
embellishments
and
the
publi-
cation
history
of
each
work.
The first editions
of
several
sonatas
published
during
Mozart's
lifetime contain elab-
orate embellishments
not found
in the
autograph.
An
oft-quoted
example
is
the slow
movement
to
the Sonata
in
F
major,
K332.3
These
embellishments,
which are
accepted by
scholars
as
authentic,
together
with
the
autograph
embellishments
in such works as
the
A minor
rondo
or the
F
major
rondo,
K494,
give
the cue to
Mozart's intentions in works that were not issued during
his lifetime.
The
re-emergence
of the
autograph
to the
Fantasy
and Sonata
in
C
minor,
K475/457,
sheds addi-
tional
light
upon
the
relationship
between
Mozart's
more
schematic
original
concept, reflecting
his own
abilities
to
improvise,
and
the written-out
elaborations
he
prepared
for his students
(in
this
case
Therese
von
Trattner,
the dedicatee
of the
sonata),
or for the
general
224
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Ex.2
Sonata n C
minor,
K457,
i,
bars
17-23;
hree versions of
autograph:
a)
first
version;
(b)
second
version;
(c)
third
version
(a)
Adagiogcresc,
f
jj•u
Kq- R
..II.IM
fQ
sotto
voce
p
cresc,
f
p
IL
;::
v
i
i
,i
V
"
I i i
I
dor
fP
cresc,
f p
(b)
A
Elm f-
I
f-?If
di
iv
• r--3 ---1 3
r-1
_
-
/.?
i"r
EARLY
MUSIC
MAY
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(c)
pb
____
7
> j 7 _ _
..
1........
Scresc.
pp
cresc
f
....-
-
. .
_._.
._
public.
The
recurrences of the
principal
theme
of
the
slow
movement
to
K457 (ex.2a)
is
signified
in
the auto-
graph by
the direction 'Da
Capo
7
bars':
they
are not
written out.
An
extra
leaf
contains
diminutions for
each
return-unknown before
the
rediscovery
of
the auto-
graph (ex.2b).4
These
in
turn are
superseded by
a more
elaborate set
of
embellishments
on
a further
leaf,
labelled
'Variationen'
in
Maximilian
Stadler's
hand
(ex.2c).
It
is
the
latter versions that
appear
in
every
mod-
ern edition.
What insight these versions give into Mozart's crea-
tive
process
We witness not
merely
the narrative evo-
lution
of an
idea as
in
K494
and
K511,
but the
recastings
of
a
single
passage.
This
example
documents a notational
practice
of
great
consequence
to the
question
of orna-
mentation,
i.e. the common use
of
shorthand da
capo
signs
rather than renotations
of
the
principal
theme. The
modern
performer
is unaware
of
these,
seeing
only
the
literal
reprinting
of
the
theme with
its
attendant
mis-
leading implication
that the
composer
desired a
note-
for-note reiteration of the
opening
music.
Given the evidence
presented
above,
it
would seem
il-
logical
upon
stylistic
and
expressive
grounds
for
the
theme of the second movement to the Sonata
in B
flat,
K570,
to be
performed
six times
in
succession
(counting
the
prescribed
repeats)
in
a
single,
unadorned state.
Ex.3
presents sample
embellishments
for
each of
its
appearances.
The practice of embellishment at returns is docu-
mented
in
Mozart's
manuscripts
in other
interesting
ways,
some
of which
require particularly
creative
solutions:
1. In
several
of
the
piano
concertos,
the theme is
una-
dorned at
reprises
in
the solo
instrument,
but
deco-
rated
in
the orchestral ritornello that follows
(ex.4).
It is an
essential contradiction
of
the
relationship
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Ex.3
Sonata
in B
flat,
K570,
i;
sample
embellishmentsof the
principal
theme
(a
z:
tr
Adagio
2: tr
(b) 2
tr_
2
9
(in
L.H.)
(C)
28
n k
(d)
tr
44
tr
%;~c
CDf
(1: first time; 2: second time)
:::ii-::
P F R 7
VAV
J
C
N UP RT
established
1868
Clavichords- Spinets
Harpsichords
?
Fortepianos
D-8600
Bamberg,
Zeppelinstr.
3
West
Germany
Tel.
(0951)
31001
Fortepiano
after C. Graf
Vienna
1822
EARLY MUSIC MAY
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Ex.4
Concerto
in D
minor,
K466,
i:
(a)
solo
version
of
theme;
(b)
elaboratedorchestral
version
(a)
131
(b)
139
13 9
-
•__,___•,__--
_
--::_•
____•
_••:
•_
•
_.._
ob.
__i...
p -
bna
F
(in
B
b)---
P
pf _
vl.
Pf
F~ll
f
via.
p.
V C ~
f
p
between solo
and
orchestra,
with its
underlying
assumptions
of invention and
virtuosity,
for the
soloist to present a less elaborate theme than that
played by
the
band.
In
cases such as the
above,
the
soloist must
play
something
as active
in
the
ante-
cedent as
will
be
heard
from
the
orchestra
in the
consequent.
A
literal
carry-over
is not
necessary,
but
certainly
possible.
2.
A
special problem
is
posed
by
movements
con-
taining
repeat
signs.
The
repeats
invite
embellish-
ment
of
both
main themes and
subsidiary
material.
At
times the
composer
may
embellish the return
section of a sonata, thereby creating a significant
contrast with the
first,
unadorned
treatment
of a
given
theme.
The
performer
taking
both
repeats
note for
note
in
such
a sonata movement runs the
risk of
turning
the
flexibility
of
the
composer's
invention into
a
rigid stylistic
exercise:
first
the audi-
ence
hears a
simple
version of a tune
twice;
then a
highly
elaborated one which
is
also
repeated.
The
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Ex.5
Sonata
for
piano,
four
hands,
in
F,
K497,
i;
decorations o
principal
heme in
Levin's
and
Bilson's
performance:
a)
expo-
sition;
(b)
repeat
of
exposition;
(c)
recapitulation;
d)
repeat
of
recapitulation
(a)
Andante
(b)
5
etc.
(as
above)
(c)
64
-
9_7
7,-..
.
...7:
P
33
(b)
(C)
I
1
I
I
I
-I
(d)
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Ex.6
Concerto in
C,
K503,
i,
bars
57-64,
with
sample
embellishment
elaborated
version
57
tr
___
_
_
.
pf.
~~~
-__
_(+hns)
vl.
via.-
-
..
.
.
.
.
mfp
mfp
vc.
_
_
b.
ifp
lmfp
61
__
__[y
_
_
f
f----f-
_
:
_~_
_.......
(+
wind)
_
__
_ _
_
_ __
- -
-------
1
mfp
mfp
f
mfp
Mfpf
illusion
of
spontaneity
created
by
the
written-out
embellishment will
be
crushed
the
second
time
around
by
the
player's
ack
of
imagination.5
t
is
incumbent
upon
the
performer
to
create
inter-
mediate
(or
at
least
different)
states
of
decoration
o
that an
organic
development
of
the
initial
idea
occurs
each
time
it is
heard.
Ex.5
hows
a
solution
for
the second movement of Mozart'sSonatain F for
piano,
four
hands,
K497,
as
carried
out in
a
record-
ing
made
by
the
author
with
Malcolm
Bilson.
While
successive
embellishments
of an
idea
need
not
become
ever
more
intricate,
Mozart's
written
ornamentation n
the
recapitulation
s
so
consum-
mate
that it
seemed
prudent
to
invent
a
less
fancy
reading
or
the
first
time
the
return
s
heard,
saving
Mozart's
ersion
for
the
repeat.
This
strategy
of
pro-
gressive
melodic
elaboration
s
typical,
butnot
abso-
lutely
necessary;
ather,
the
ornaments
chosen
for
each recurrence
of
the
theme
should
provide
a
dis-
tinctive
flavour
that balances
the structural
ymm-
etry
with
an ever fresh,
unpredictable
nflection.
Apart
romprincipal
hemes,
certain
generic
passages
invite
filling
out:
1.
Whenever
melodic
and
rhythmic
activity
suddenly
slacken
without
obvious
dramatic
or
expressive
motivation.
Two
such
cases
are:
a. sequences
n slow movements
(see
ex.6);
b.
passageswhose
topand
bottom
notes
are
delin-
eated
without
the
necessary
connective
arpeg-
gios
required o
give
them
their ntended
shape.
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Ex.7
Concerto
in C
minor,
K491,
i,
bars
257-64,
with
filled-in
passagework
257
pf.
(Pf.
i
_ ••1-
_h-
... .
-
-
___
.
_-
vl.
261
-
-
____
-
.
--.-cresc.
elaborated version
_ Ey
# t- ~ z m
- __
-
-
-
- ------------
or
c r e s c
cresc.
f
cresc.
f
W
f
F
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Ex.8
Concerto in B
flat,
K595,
i,
bars
49-58,
with
sample
embellishment
pf.
P
Solo
vl.
0
Solo
p
Solo
vla.---_
Solo
db.
1.1_.
._M-
-
-
elaborated
version
.--_
_
__
7.. 7
%-
-
-.
-&
yi
54
,
.--..,._
_
_ _
,hi_
_ _
-
a_
.
_
_
54
iO
f Ac
These
occur
in
the
piano
concertos
in E
flat
major,
K482;
in B flat
major,
K595;
and
especially
in
C
minor,
K491.
They
are
particularly
noticeable
because the
orchestra's
hythmic
activity
suddenly
eclipses
that of the soloist
(see ex.7).6
2.
The
'piano
recitatives'
n
the
slow
movements
of
Mozart's oncertos, nwhich amelody n thepiano's
right
hand,
punctuated
by
rests,
s
accompanied
by
repeated
chords in
the
strings.
Such
passages
are
found
in
the
concertos n
D
major,
K451;
n D
minor,
K466;
n
C
major,
K467;
n C
minor,
K491;
n
D
major
('Coronation'),
K537;
nd
in B
flat
major,
K595.
As is
generally
known,
Mozart
commented on the
bare-
ness of the
passage
rom
K451
n
a
letter to his father
dated
9
June
1784.
His sister
Nannerl had found
'something
missing'
in this
passage,
and
Mozart
confirmed
his
in the
letter,
promising
o
'supply
he
deficiency
as soon as
possible
and
send it with
the
cadenzas'.
Every
modern
edition
prints
the
more
elaborateversion from the St Peter
parts
in
Salz-
burg-presumed to be Mozart'srevision-above
the starker
original
version,
showing
the relation-
ship
between
what
was
notated and what was
expected.
It is
to
be
hoped
that creative
performers
will
be
inspired
by
this
illustrationto find similar
embellishments
or
the
'something missing'
in
the
other concertos cited.
Heretofore,
such
embellish-
ments have been
lamentably
rare,
and limited to
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Ex.9
Trio in B
flat,
K498,
i,
bars
38-41
38
3
3
Ex.lo
"
"I"I
#
?
?
Ti-
relatively
areful
decoration.An
alternative
or
part
of the recitative rom K595s
given
in ex.8.
3.
Isolated
spots
where a
note value
could
be
orna-
mented
by
a
grace
note,
trill,
or
turn
(ex.9).
I
have
chosen not to
treat
the
construction
and rhet-
oric of
cadenzas
here,
as
I
have
done this
elsewhere.7
Nonetheless,
t is
worth
observing
hat
there
are certain
harmonic
formulas that
appear
regularly
n
the
piano
concerto
cadenzas,
for
example
that
shown in
ex.lo.
A
related
formula used in
lead-ins
(the
shorter
cadenzas
that
precede
the
principal
heme,
especially
n
rondos),
is
given
in
ex.ii. The
ability
o
improvise
upon
such for-
mulas,using
the
thematic
materialof
the
respective
on-
certo,
is of
great importance
to
successful
cadenza
improvisation.
Ex.11
SwI
-
••"
g
P
K-
T
I
l
8
..
[
i
.-.
'•
•[
I I
How
restrictive
are
the
criteria
expounded
above?
n
my experience,
not
at all.
Not that
improvised
cadenzas
in styles other than Mozart'shave not been created
before-especially
in
the
late
19th
and
early
20th
cen-
turies;
but
let us
return or a
moment to
ex.i.
We see
five
different
versions of a
single
idea,
and
no
doubt
Mozart
could have
written
another
ten if
his
formal
require-
ments
had
mandated
t.
More to
the
point,
the
embel-
lishments I
have
encountered in
the
work of
such
informed
colleagues
as
Malcolm
Bilson
have
always
been
enlightening
o me
because,
while
thoroughly
diomatic
to Mozart's
anguage,
they
are differentfrom the ones
that
form
my
personal
vocabulary.
Mozart's
oeuvre
s
so
immense
There
is so much to be
inspired
and
influ-
enced
by,
thata
performer
displaying nsight
and
stylis-
tic awareness
can
develop
an
individual
vernacular
of
ornamentation
that will
be as distinctive
as her or
his
performing
style.
RobertLevin
is a
leading
performer
n both
period
and
modern
pianos
whose
performances
nclude
innovatory
improvised
adenzas
nd
fantasias
on Mozartean
hemes.
He is also a pioneeringscholarwhose completionsof
Mozart
ragments
havebeen
widely erformed:
he latest
s
a new version
of
the
Requiem
premi&red
n
Stuttgart
n
August
1991.
'For discussion
of these sources
see R. D.
Levin,
'Instrumental
Ornamentation,
Improvisation
and
Cadenzas',
Performance
ractice,
ed.
H.
Mayer
Brownand S. Sadie
(London,
1989),
pp.267-91.
2Only
one
keyboard
work,
the Sonata
in D
major
for two
pianos,
K448/375a,
ontains
a note outside this limit:
f"#
(in
the first
piano
part),
and we know
from a letter
that
Josepha
von
Auernhammer
played
hat
part,
so she
must have
possessed
a
fortepiano
hat
extended
up
to
g"'".
3The
wo versionsarenot
reproduced
here,
as
they
arefound in
vir-
tually
every
modern edition:
cf. also the
article cited in
n..
4Bars
0ff. in
ex.2bare
similar o bars
41ff.
of
the
thirdversionof
the
autograph.
However,
bars
41ff.
n the second
version are
different.
'The
unpopularity
of
second
repeats
n
sonata
movementsis
per-
haps
not
entirely
unrelated
o
performers'
nxiety
about this
challenge
to the
imagination.
6For
extended discussionof
such
passages,
ee
the
essay
referred
o
in
n.i.
7See
n.1
and
Levin, 'Improvisation
and
Embellishment
in
the
Mozart Piano
Concertos'
Musical
Newsletter,
v/2 (Spring
1975),
pp.3-14.
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MUSIC MAY
1992
233