Works for solo piano by Mozart performed by Jeremy Denk on January 12, 2014.Mozart: Piano sonata No. 15 in F Major K. 533/494Mozart: Piano sonata No. 8 in A Minor K. 310As the The New York Times puts it, “Mr. Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs.” Today, we’ll hear Jeremy Denk play a bit of music from the classical era, two sonatas by Mozart: number 15 in F Major and number 8 in A minor.The A minor sonata – written when Mozart was just 22 – is one of very few minor-key sonatas by Mozart, and it’s not surprising that he wrote it during a trying time. Mozart had left his job as a court musician in the summer of 1777, and he spent the next year traveling, performing, and trying to find a suitable position. His mother fell ill and passed away in the summer of 1778, right around the same time Mozart was composing the piece. The emotional, even angry tone of this piece is not surprising, given the context. But even within this tumultuous piece, there are moments of lightness, particularly in the second movement.Before that, we’ll begin the program with the F Major sonata, Mozart’s fifteenth, unique in its transparent, finely wrought contrapuntal textures and its liberal use of dissonant clashes, particularly in the slow movement.