Violin Sonata No. 32 (Mozart)
Violin Sonata No. 32 in B-flat major, K. 454, is a violin-and-piano work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He finished it in Vienna on April 21, 1784, and it was published by Christoph Torricella together with two piano sonatas, K. 284 and K. 333. The piece was written for violin virtuoso Regina Strinasacchi of Mantua to be performed with Mozart at a concert in the Kärntnerthor Theater in Vienna on April 29, 1784.
Legend says Mozart did not have time to write out the piano part and performed with a blank sheet in front of him to fool the audience. His wife Constanze told a story that Emperor Joseph II saw the empty sheet and asked for the manuscript; Mozart confessed. The tale may have amused the Emperor more than angered him.
Musically, the sonata has three movements. It opens with a very slow introduction that emphasizes the equal role of violin and piano throughout. Its opening theme was later echoed in Haydn’s Op. 50 No. 1 string quartet and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 1. The second movement has a relaxed adagio feel; Mozart initially marked it Adagio but crossed it out and wrote Andante. The development section features bold chromatic modulations. The final movement is a lively, sophisticated Rondo that still keeps the playful mood of the first movement.
The autograph manuscript is kept in the Nydahl Collection at the archive of Stiftelsen Musikkulturens Främjande in Stockholm.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:50 (CET).