Innovation and Tradition in the Classic Concerto: Mozart's K. 453 (1784) as a Model for Beethoven's Fourth Concerto (1805-06)

Introduction Many studies have documented Mozart's influence on early works.1 More recent research suggests that Mozart's legacy continued to influence Beethoven throughout his life.2 Indeed, Beethoven confessed to the Abbe Maximilian Stadler on February 6, 1826, always counted myself among the greatest admirers of Mozart and shall remain so until my last breath.3 While Mozart's influence is apparent in many areas of music, this study focuses on Mozart's mature fortepiano concertos, and more specifically on the first movement of his Concerto, K. 453, as a source of inspiration and a possible model for the first movement of Fourth Concerto, Opus 58. We know that Beethoven was familiar with Mozart's Fortepiano Concertos, K. 466, 491, 503, and 595.4 While I have found no explicit mention of K. 453 in Beethoven sources, circumstantial evidence suggests that Beethoven knew this concerto as well. Mozart particularly cherished and jealously guarded K. 453, as he confessed to his father in a letter written May 15, 1784: concertos in E-flat [K. 4491 and G [K. 4531 are in the hands of none other than myself and Fri. von Ployer.5 Perhaps indicating its warm reception in Vienna, it is one of the six concertos that were published during Mozart's lifetime.6 Following Mozart's death, his students continued to perform his fortepiano concertos regularly, and even after 1800 they appeared on concert programs twice as often as concertos composed by any other composer except Beethoven.7 With regard to K. 453, a set of manuscript parts dating from c. 1800 survives in Melk, supporting the probability of a performance of the work during this time.8 In light of this evidence, Cuthbert Girdlestone's comparison of the expression of Mozart's K. 453 and Fourth is all the more intriguing. Calling attention to the subtle and intimate expression of K. 453, he notes: It is one of Mozart's most ethereal concertos, with a pastoral strain ... and it takes us close to the most ethereal of concertos ... in G. Girdlestone further wonders if Beethoven's choice of G Major for the expression of this inspiration is not due to this concerto ... We would go further and see in work a spiritual offspring of Mozart's.9 Having established circumstantial evidence indicating that Beethoven may well have been familiar with this concerto, it is my intent to address the following questions: (1) in what ways and to what extent does the first movement of concerto resemble the first movement of Mozart's, while differing from it in other respects? (2) are there artistic goals that can explain why Beethoven chose K. 453 as a model for his own movement?10 Comparisons and Contrasts of Compositional Correlations A careful study of both movements reveals some compositional correlations between musical elements that reinforce the expressive affinity recognized by Girdlestone. Most notably, the structural layouts, as well as the meticulous deployment of specific details, suggest that the two composers may have shared a similar compositional conception. On the broadest level, the formal plans of both movements feature G Major tonalities, Allegro tempos, cut-time time' signatures, and concerto-sonata forms (see Table 1). Of comparable lengths, the movements also exhibit similar proportions, a significant indicator of style. We know, for example, that all of Mozart's concertos retain similar proportions, and that they differ substantially from those found in concertos of his contemporaries. In these movements, the first Solo is the longest section, followed by the recapitulation in the third Solo. The first Ritornello is the next weightiest section, while other Ritornellos remain relatively short. The development area, Solo II, is the only area that substantially differs. Whereas Mozart's development section is relatively short and contains fewer keys, is nineteen measures longer and harmonically more complex. …