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by Steven Hall

Mozart Fugues, Rondos and Fantasias
Sang Woo Kang, piano
Naxos 8.573114
[Total time 71:03]
www.naxos.com

Mozart’s wife Constanze destroyed many of her husband’s sketches following his death, but she also compiled a collection of his incomplete works. Many of these atypical compositions and fragments exhibit influences of Bach and Handel, yet still evidence Mozart’s unique voice. Many of the shorter fragments (thirty seconds or less) seem to be singular experiments. Others, often completed by Stadler or Setter, can be regarded as stand-alone compositions. Kang enlivens these fascinating and contrapuntally enriched works with a bold, deft approach; particular impressive are the voice-leading outlines within the plethora of Mozart’s fugues. The Gigue, K. 574, has a wonderful bounce, and the curious Baroque style of the Suite in C Major, K. 399, with its Overture, Allemande, Courante, and fragment of Sarabande, is equally successful. Kang’s interesting analyses in his liner notes make this collection a unique and important addition to Mozart’s recorded literature.