Beethoven's musical style
The compositions that Beethoven wrote in his formative period can be generally characterized by the composer's efforts to master the predominant classical language of the period. His works from this period can be subdivided into two, based on the composer's residence. First, various juvenalia, written when the adolescent Beethoven was in residence in Bonn and heavily indebted to the works of contemporaries, especially Mozart and his teacher, Christian Gottlob Neefe. These early efforts can be seen in a set of three piano sonatas and piano quartets (WoO 36) that Beethoven wrote before 1792. The Quartets, for instance, are each specifically modelled after three Violin sonatas Mozart published in 1781 – K 296, 379 and 380 – and Beethoven would later draw upon this familiarity in the composition of several of his own Violin Sonatas.
Piano Sonata No. 1 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, K. 279 / 189d (1774), is a piano sonata in three movements. It was written down, except for the first part of the opening movement, during the visit Mozart paid to Munich for the production of "La finta giardiniera" from late 1774 to the beginning of the following March. A typical performance of the sonata takes about 14 minutes. It is the first of his 18 piano sonatas. All but two of the sonatas, No. 8 in A minor and No. 14 in C minor, are in a major key. Also, the first six sonatas seem to follow the cycle of fifths, to the flat side first (No. 1 in C major, No. 2 in F major, No. 3 in B-flat major, No. 4 in E-flat major) and then to the sharp side (No. 5 in G major, No. 6 in D major).