Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was one of the most influential, popular and prolific composers of the classical period. A child prodigy, from an early age he began composing over 600 works, including some of the most famous pieces of symphonic, chamber, operatic, and choral music.

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Sonata for violin & piano No. 18 in G major, K. 301 (K. 293a) (1778)

1. Allegro con spirito (0:00)
2. Allegro (8:09)

Henryk Szeryng, violin and Ingrid Haebler, piano

The G Major Sonata is the first of a group of six sonatas for piano and violin (K301 - K306) composed in Mannheim and Paris during the course of the tour undertaken by Mozart and his mother during 1777 and 1778. The genesis of their composition apparently derived from early in the tour while the couple were in Munich in the fall of 1777. On October 6, 1777, Mozart explained in a letter to his father how he had come across a set of violin sonatas by the Dresden Kapellmeister Joseph Schuster (1748 - 1812): "I send my sister [Nannerl] herewith six duets for clavicembalo [harpsichord] and violin by Schuster, which I have often played here. They are not bad. If I stay on I shall write six myself in the same style, as they are very popular here. My main object in sending them to you is that you may amuse yourselves à deux." Two important points emerge form Mozart's words. The order in which he mentions the instruments underlines the perceived dominance of the keyboard part in sonatas of this kind at the time, while in sending them home he provides a reminder that, like the solo keyboard sonata, such works were the province of domestic music making rather than concert pieces.

The first three sonatas date from the early months of 1778, although no exact chronology is possible since the autograph manuscript is lost. The implication in the letter quoted above that Mozart had found something new in Schuster's sonatas is probably explained by what Mozart's biographers Wyzewa and Saint-Foix describe as "the absolutely independent role between the two instruments." Certainly the sonatas composed by Mozart in Mannheim and Paris attain a greater equality, though listeners (and violinists!) may demur at the suggestion of absolute independence. Like all but the last of the group, the G major Sonata is in only two movements, an Allegro con spirito followed by an Allegro in rondo form, its minor mode episode providing a rare example of the violin attaining undisputed dominance. It has been suggested that the sonata was originally intended for flute rather than violin. All six sonatas were published in Paris in 1778 as "Opus 1, No's 1-6." The title page bears a dedication to Maria Elisabeth, Electress of the Palatinate, the origination of the frequently used designation "Palatine Sonatas."

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