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Completed in 1788, was a relatively late work for the 32-year-old Mozart, who died only three years later. Mozart himself described the piece as “for beginners,“ owing to its relative brevity and simplicity, but the three-movement work is not without its challenges for even experienced pianists. Most piano students will encounter this piece at some point early on in their studies. I myself somehow eluded the Sonata Semplice until adulthood, but was always fond of it (to which I can imagine the composer responding “well, of course“). The third movement, a brisk, cheerful rondo, is built around a choppy call-and-response motif in thirds, only slightly different the first and second times it appears. The roller-coaster C section starting in the relative minor contains most of the real meat of the movement, until the piece returns to the A section and then to a joyous little coda.
