L. Koželuch – Sonata in F Major, Op. 35 No. 1 (Ciani)

0:04​ – 1. Allegro 4:32​ – 2. Adagio 7:02​ – 3. Rondo. Allegretto Leopold Koželuch was one of the most prominent protagonists of Vienna’s musical life in late 18th century. He even became the royal court composer as a successor of Mozart (and achieved higher salary there). His 50 keyboard sonatas are usually perfect examples of the sonata cycle (first movement in sonata form, beautiful singing second movement and a rondo as a finale) and are mostly set in the harmonically light and graceful galant style, which was popular at the time. That has however unfortunately backlashed against him after his death and was regarded as too much of a crowd pleaser. His compositional style was not as black and white though, as is proven by his more subjective minor key sonatas. In recent years the sonatas have been made more available to pianists by Christopher Hogwood’s critical edition for Bärenreiter. Composer – Leopold Koželuh/Koželuch (1747-1818) Piano – Dino Ciani Live recording, 1967 The recording is public domain. The sheet music is not yet public domain, but was used with the kind consent of Bärenreiter (Koželuh Leopold, Complete Sonatas for Keyboard, ©Bärenreiter Praha 2012, BA 9513) Czech piano music playlist –