Violin Sonata No. 22 in A Major

Mozart composed violin sonatas throughout his career, from his very earliest set, published when he was aged only seven, to a number of masterpieces composed during the 1780s. His first mature works for violin and piano, though, date from 1778, when he was reluctantly on tour with his mother with the aim of finding work in Paris. En route he lingered in Mannheim, where he fell unrequitedly in love with Aloysia Weber, the sister of the girl he would eventually marry. Later, in the French capital, the sudden death of his mother set the seal on a disastrous adventure. The violin sonatas of this period reflect his mingled joy and heartbreak: the restless, unrelieved melancholy of No. 21, for example, contrasts starkly with the high spirits of Violin Sonata No. 22. This is set in two movements, with a rumbustious “Allegro di molto” followed by a set of six variations on a sweetly unassuming theme.