Mozart: Adagio Quasi Fantasia In C Minor, K. 396, Violin & Piano

Category: Violin and Piano ** Composer: Mozart, Wolfgang ** Title: Adagio Quasi Fantasia in C Minor, K. 396 ** Edited by: Kenneth Cooper and Marjorie Bagley ** Publisher: International Music Company ** Difficulty: A5.

This Adagio Quasi Fantasia in C Minor, K. 396 (K6 385f) was only a fragment at the time of Mozarts death in 1791. His widow, Constanze, trying to publish some of the composers remaining works to support her family, engaged to this end the skills of Abbe Maximilian Stadler, a priest, composer, and historian who greatly respected Mozart and would complete several of his other unfinished works. Stadler rose to the occasion and completed the Fantasia with integrity, remaining close to Mozarts own stylistic tendencies. There is some indication that Mozart intended it to become a violin and piano sonata, but he had written only a few bars of a violin part, whereas there was much more piano part to work with; thus, Stadler made the decision to bring it to life as a work for solo piano.

In this edition, musicologists Kenneth Cooper and Marjorie Bagley have reconstructed the piece, filling out the violin part in consultation with Mozarts original manuscript as well as Stadlers completion. The book contains an historical introduction, with source and performance notes.