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"Give me the best instrument in Europe, but listeners who understand nothing or do not wish to understand and who do not feel with me in what I am playing, and all my pleasure is spoilt." —W. A. MOZART

Key Points

  • The Classical concerto form has three movements, alternating fast-slow-fast.
  • The first movement is the longest and most complex, combining elements of Baroque ritornello procedure and sonata-allegro form, resulting in first-movement concerto form.
  • Mozart's Piano Concerto in G major, K. 453—with its graceful melodies, brilliant piano passagework, and virtuosic cadenzas (improvised solo passages)— is a notable example of the genre.

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