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Cadenza by Charmian Keay for Mozart's Violin Concerto in A Major, K.219 - pdf

Recording by Charmian Keay of the Cadenza for K.219. Total duration: ca. 2 minutes.

Charmian Keay's Cadenza for Mozart's Violin Concerto in A Major, K.219 was written in 2008 as part of her Bachelor of Music with Honours' dissertation. The purpose of the research was to compose an original, stylistically informed cadenza. Since there are no survivng cadenzas to any of the five violin concertos, six Mozart piano cadenzas were used as models on which to base the cadenza, and extensive analysis revealed structural and compositional principles which were then used as guidelines in composition – the most important principle being that of the prolongation of the dominant harmony throughout the cadenza. Interestingly, it was found that Mozart inserted sections into some cadenzas which seemed to be working against this principle, since they were unusually stable and grounded in the tonic; however underlying techniques were found which enabled the prolongation of dominant harmony over and above these.

Other significant principles found in Mozart's cadenzas related to use of thematic quotations, including the breakdown of their stability; manipulation of register; and use of harmonic progressions and techniques in prolonging the dominant. The most frequent structure found in Mozart's cadenzas was that of a tripartite schema. The writing of an original cadenza revealed not only the importance of structural and harmonic principles, but also that of motivic and melodic detail in Mozart cadenzas, as well as the shaping of musical lines.

Dissertation: Chapter Four - Critique of Two Existing Cadenzas and Rationale and Detailed Explanation of an Original Cadenza (PDF)