Sonata No. 1 in E-flat, K. 67
About this Piece
Seventeen so-called “Church Sonatas” (in Italian, “sonata da chiesa”) characteristically represent Mozart’s style in writing functional sacred music for orchestral instruments and continuo, each only one movement long and usually played as an introduction to a reading of the Gospel. Mixing and matching these movements into groups of three often make for substantial three-movement concert fare.
Because it is the only Church Sonata in a slow tempo, the Andantino in E-flat major, K. 67, often serves aptly as the middle movement in such three-part piecemeal arrangements, especially if the two outer movements are in the not-so-remote key of C major (as they are here). The Allegro, K. 336, takes on the character of a keyboard concerto with extensive right-hand activity in the organ, while the Allegro, K. 328, brings the forces together in a rounded form as an apt Finale.