Minuet in G for Keyboard (Mozart)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are actually two famous Minuet in G, both are composed for keyboard. One is the more famous one, written by Christian Petzold, which is usually attributed in J.S.Bach.

The other one, which is the one referenced by title here, is K. 1e, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in December 1761 or January 1762 in Salzburg. It is part of a group of keyboard works found in Nannerl's Music Book. An extremely short piece (just 30 seconds long), it was likely notated by his father, Leopold Mozart, since Wolfgang was five or six years old at the time (he was born on January 27, 1756).

It was written for the harpsichord and is hence usually performed on the harpsichord, though other keyboard instruments may be used. This minuet is in Mozart's first collection of works. As a minuet, it is relatively fast in 3/4 time. Unlike Minuet in F, it is far less influenced by the baroque style.

It is largely constructed of phrases which are repeated: every two bars is announced by a descending fifth, after which 4 chords are played, a tune is constructed within this restraint. Each phrase is 8 bars long. In two part harmony, it consists of 3 sections: the opening, a contrasting trio, and reprise of the original.