Menuetto (Sonata in A, K. 331, second movement)

Background

The minuet began as a French court dance in the seventeenth century and spread across Europe. By Mozart's time composers wrote it in two parts: the minuet proper, then a contrasting middle section called the trio, after which the minuet was played again. The name "trio" is a leftover from older orchestral dances, where that middle section was often scored for just three instruments.

Mozart seldom put a minuet into his piano sonatas, which makes this one, the second movement of the Sonata in A major, K. 331, stand out. It sits between the gentle theme and variations that open the sonata and the famous Rondo alla Turca that ends it. None of the three movements is a quick sonata-form Allegro, so the minuet gives the sonata its moment of courtly poise.

It is not a dance for the ballroom so much as a picture of one: graceful, full of small ornaments and sudden sparkling runs. Mozart's trio is in D major. This arrangement leaves the trio out and plays the minuet once through without its repeats.

How to practise it

The arrangement is in A major (three sharps: F, C and G) and 3/4 time, 48 bars long. The first half (18 bars) moves from A major to E major; the second half (30 bars) travels further afield before returning to A major.

Learn it in short phrases, two or four bars at a time. Here are two bars from the opening phrase:

Play the quick figure on each first beat lightly, letting it lead to the quarter note. For the octave leap, move the hand early and look at the landing note before you need it.

The runs are the main challenge. Near the end of the first half the right hand plays a falling scale in sixteenths, twice, then a long run up and back down:

Practise each run in groups of four, stopping on the first note of each group, then join two groups, then the whole bar. Keep the hand close to the keys and the wrist level. Under the runs the left hand plays steady broken chords in eighth notes; keep them quiet and even, so the runs can sparkle on top.

The movement also has small grace notes and octave pairs in the right hand. Play them quickly and lightly, as decorations rather than main notes.

Tempo ladder: 60, 80, 100, then the full 116. Count ONE-two-three with a light first beat; this is an elegant minuet, not a stamping dance. Listen for clear runs, every sixteenth the same size, and for the contrast between quiet, delicate phrases and brighter, fuller ones.