14 Sonata for two pianos K448 – Andante
17 Piano concerto no. 23 in A major K488 – Allegro [1st movt]
The 2007 Classic 100 Concerto Countdown surveyed concertos by all composers for
piano, violin, cello and other instruments and found:
11 Mozart piano concerto no. 23 in A major K488.
The 2006 and 2007 countdowns show:
K 448 (slow movt) 14%
K 488 (average of movts) 9%
K 488 (whole) 11%
Average 11%
It follows that the slow movement of the first (K 448), and the whole of the second
(K488), of the three pieces which have been shown to display the ‘Mozart effect’, are
also very popular with Australian music lovers.
In addition, computer analysis by scientists of pieces by various composers shows that
the music of Mozart and Bach shares a common factor. This factor is a high degree of
long-term periodicity in which wave forms repeat regularly, but not very close together,
throughout the piece of music. Bach and Mozart in that order were Chopin’s favourite
composers.
The existence of the Mozart effect was, however, challenged in 1999 by Chabris and
Steele who stated ‘that any cognitive enhancement is small and does not reflect any
change in IQ or reasoning ability in general, but instead derives entirely from
performance on one specific type of cognitive task and has a simple neuropsychological
explanation’, called ‘enjoyment arousal’.
Mozart piano
In the eighteenth century keyboard instruments were evolving at a rapid rate. Since first
appearing in the middle of the sixteenth century, the harpsichord – with its mechanically
plucked strings held at low tension – had become ubiquitous. By adding keyboards and
other devices to modify the sound, the harpsichord had become more versatile, but
composers and performers were increasingly looking for ways to derive more expression
in performing the music, specifically in the “touch” of the keyboard.
In Florence around 1700, the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori made a
breakthrough now credited with paving the way towards the modern piano: for plucked
strings he substituted a system of hammers which gave the player greatly increased
control of tone and attack through the amount of force used to depress the keys. The
addition of extra strings for each note brought new richness and depth to the sound.