Violin Concerto No. 1 (Mozart)

Violin Concerto in B♭ major
No. 1
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart in 1770
KeyB-flat major
CatalogueK. 207
Composed1773 (1773)?
Movements
  1. Allegro moderato
  2. Adagio
  3. Presto
Scoring
  • Violin
  • orchestra

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 1 in B♭ major, K. 207, once was supposed to have been composed in 1775 (when Mozart was 19), along with the other four wholly authentic violin concertos. However, analysis of handwriting and the manuscript paper on which the concerto was written suggest that the date of composition might have been 1773. It has the usual fast–slow–fast structure.

I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio
III. Presto

Movements are:

  1. Allegro moderato
  2. Adagio
  3. Presto
\relative c''' { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo "Allegro moderato" 4 = 132 \key bes \major <bes d,>4\f bes2 \grace c16( bes8) a16 g | g8( f) f2 \grace g16( f8) es16 d | d8( c) bes2( a4) | bes16(d) c(es) d(f) es(g) f4 r }

The concerto is full of intricate passage work with running sixteenth notes. It is characterized generally by high spirits.

The Rondo in B♭, K. 269, for violin and orchestra, also is connected to this concerto. It was intended to replace the finale movement, and was composed to fulfil the recommendation of Antonio Brunetti, a violinist in Salzburg at the time.

Nonetheless, typically the concerto is performed with the original finale and the K. 269 Rondo remains a separate concert-piece.