Mozart concerto in G - second movement

[Justine]

Why is it that the second movement of Mozart's concerto in G major is in D major? Just realized this today and I find it kind of funny since he had written the D major after.

[daisyallen]

I heard about this Mozart’s Piano Concerto in G major, K.453. This particular concerto was composed in 1784 and contains three movements allegro, andante, and allegretto.Mozart introduces a rather mysterious sounding bass line characterized by a leap down by a minor third Eb to C, a whole step up D, and a leap down of a fifth G. This bass line is repeated three times with string and piano playing over it.But honstley said I never heard about the second movement of Mozart's concerto in G major is in D major .

[fluteguy18]

Well... the D Major concerto was actually a revised version of his oboe concerto in C Major. If you buy the Barenreiter Performer's edition of the Mozart D Major, you are given the flute part, score, cadenzas, and a comparison score to the original oboe concerto.

[atoriphile]

From what I can gather, it was fairly common practice at the time to have the second movement of a concerto in a different key.

[stewyflute13]

That's similar to the sonata form of each individual movement of a classical concerto. You start off with a statement IN the key, then develop in to a more complex harmonic structure, and then return the original key, ending on a resounding tonic. Perhaps the change in key in the middle movement was simply a modulation of progression/ development in the overall structure of the concerto, as it does indeed return to the tonic key (G Major in the third movement). Just a thought, although I feel like there should be an easier answer to this, and perhaps someone with more theory knowledge knows the precise, straight-to-the point answer to this.

Stewyflute13