Piano Concerto No. 19 (Mozart)

Piano Concerto in F major
No. 19
by W. A. Mozart
Pianoforte by Johann Andreas Stein (Augsburg, 1775) – Berlin, Musikinstrumenten-Museum
Key	F major
Catalogue	K. 459
Movements	Three (Allegro, Andante, Allegro assai)
Scoring	Piano orchestra

The Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, KV 459 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was written at the end of 1784: Mozart's own catalogue of works records that it was completed on 11 December (works surrounding it in the Köchel catalogue are KV 458, the "Hunt" quartet and KV 464, the fifth of the Haydn set). It is occasionally known as the "second coronation concerto" on account of Mozart playing it on the occasion of the coronation of Leopold II in Frankfurt am Main in October 1790. The autograph is held by the Jagiellońska Library, Kraków. The first edition was produced by Johann Andre of Offenbach in 1794, and Breitkopf & Härtel produced an edition in 1800. Like most of Mozart's concertos it is in three movements:

The concerto was written for Mozart to perform himself: Hutchings calls it "athletic", combining grace with vigour. It is scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, and strings.

The orchestra opens quietly with a prelude of 71 bars (Hutchings incorrectly states 72), wherein six orchestral themes are exposed (A-F in Hutchings' notation; see main article on Mozart Piano Concertos for a discussion of this notation), of which the first, rhythmical and with a military ambiance, becomes increasingly important as the movement progresses; indeed, its insistent rhythm dominates the entire movement. The piano then answers with its own exposition of 116 bars, starting with A and B, then introducing some new material (themes x and y), with free passages of arpeggios and scales: the scheme is ABxAyA Free D Free. The orchestra then returns on its own with its short first ritornello (22 bars) that introduces another theme, G: the scheme is AGAG. In the ensuing middle section (35 bars) yet another orchestral theme is introduced, H: the scheme is HAHAHA. This is followed by a long recapitulation, also of 116 bars, where, as is typical of his concertos, Mozart rapidly departs from a simple repetition of the previous material: the scheme is ABAyADA Free. Finally, the movement is brought to a close with the final ritornello (36 bars): AGA Cadenza (Mozart's own exists) EF - hence the two closing themes of the prelude are finally heard again at the end.