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Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) · sheet music

  • Key C major
  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 7–9
  • Passages 11

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian classical (1756–1791). The reading release has 11 passages from this piece at levels 7–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 129–132 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 37–48 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito.

  1. Hands together · bars 129–132 level 7
  2. The hardest bars · bars 37–48 level 9

How to play Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito

  1. Tempo:Allegro con spirito means quick but with spirit; start at a speed where the sixteenth-note scales stay even, then raise it a few clicks at a time.
  2. Right hand:The right hand carries most of the scale runs and chords above the staff, so learn the ledger-line notes by name before adding speed.
  3. Left hand:The left hand supplies broken chords and sudden leaps that need a quiet, steady touch; keep the elbow close and move by feel rather than looking down.
  4. Hands together:Practice hands together with the metronome on every beat, first at half speed, because the dotted rhythms and sixteenth runs can drift against each other.
  5. Fingering:Pick one fingering for each scale run and mark it, with a thumb crossing at the same spot every time.
  6. Dynamics:Mozart contrasts loud, declamatory chords with soft answering phrases, so decide the dynamic for each phrase before you play it.
  7. Practice:Learn each four-bar unit separately and stitch them together, starting with the unit that gives you the most trouble.
  8. Rhythm:Count the dotted figures in sixteenths, so the short note after the long one lands precisely and does not slide into a triplet.

Common mistakes

  • Starting too fast and letting the sixteenth runs blur. Fix: Fix the tempo at which the run is clean, play it at that tempo ten times, and only then speed up.
  • Reading ledger-line notes a step too high or too low. Fix: Name the first ledger-line note, then count outward in steps.
  • Making every chord equally loud. Fix: Mark the loud and soft phrases in pencil and rehearse the contrast on its own.
  • Turning dotted rhythms into even eighths. Fix: Tap the rhythm on your knee in sixteenths before playing it with notes.

Structure: sonata form

The first movement is a sonata-form Allegro in common time with an orchestral feel, borrowing the Mannheim habit of alternating loud full-ensemble outbursts with quiet solo answers. The exposition moves from C major to the dominant, G major, and is repeated. The development begins with the opening flourish in G minor before the music returns home to C major.

Theme 1 · Main theme (C major)
A loud unison call, rising through a C major chord, answered by a soft, dotted reply; the reading switches quickly between octaves and light melody.
Theme 2 · Second group (G major)
The music settles in the dominant with running sixteenth-note figures, and F-sharps take the place of F-naturals.
Development · Development (G minor)
Opens with the main theme's flourish in G minor, so B-flats and other accidentals appear before the music finds its way back.
Recap · Recapitulation (C major)
The opening material returns in C major, and the second-group music now stays in the home key.

About Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito

Mozart wrote this sonata in Mannheim in the autumn of 1777, during the long journey that took him to Mannheim and then Paris. The Mozarteum's catalogue dates it between late October and mid-November of that year.

Leopold Mozart, reading a copy, called it a strange piece with a little of the Mannheim manner in it, though not enough to spoil his son's own good style. The sonata is dedicated to Rose Cannabich, the teenage daughter of the Mannheim Kapellmeister Christian Cannabich and one of Mozart's pupils, and its slow movement is described as her portrait.

It was printed in Paris by the Heina firm as the first of three sonatas, together with K. 310 and K. 311. The Mozarteum catalogue gives 1781 for that first print, while some writers date it around 1782.

  • The slow movement is described as a musical portrait of Rose Cannabich, daughter of the Mannheim Kapellmeister Christian Cannabich.
  • Mozart's father found the sonata strange and heard touches of the Mannheim style in it.
  • K. 309, 310 and 311 were printed together in Paris as a set of three sonatas, Mozart's Op. 4.
  • The first movement's tidy layout hides lopsided phrases, such as a two-bar idea answered by a five-bar one.

Why the first passage is level 7

That passage is level 7 rather than 6 because it reaches 3 ledger lines, it runs fast figuration.

The excerpts on this page sit at levels 7 to 9, with scale runs, chords and ledger lines in both hands; the level 7 excerpt is the gentlest entry point.

Questions about Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito

How hard is Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito to play?
Its passages grade from level 7 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 37–48 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 7, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 129–132 for both hands together, the level-7 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 7 because it reaches 3 ledger lines and it runs fast figuration.
What key and time signature is Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito in?
Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito is in C major, no sharps or flats. The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian classical (1756–1791). Mozart wrote this sonata in Mannheim in the autumn of 1777, during the long journey that took him to Mannheim and then Paris.
Can I practice Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 11 graded passages from Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Who was Rose Cannabich in K. 309?
She was the teenage daughter of Christian Cannabich, the Mannheim Kapellmeister, and a piano pupil of Mozart. The sonata is dedicated to her, and its slow movement is described as her portrait.
When did Mozart write K. 309?
In Mannheim in the autumn of 1777, during his journey to Mannheim and Paris; the Mozarteum catalogue dates it from late October to mid-November.
How long is K. 309?
A typical performance of all three movements takes about 16 minutes.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 11 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 7
bars 129–132 both hands
Level 8
bars 121–124 both hands · bars 141–144 both hands
Level 9
bars 37–48 both hands · bars 41–48 both hands · bars 45–48 both hands · bars 73–76 both hands · bars 73–80 both hands · bars 121–128 both hands · bars 129–136 both hands · bars 137–144 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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