Piano Sonata No. 14 (Mozart)

Piano Sonata in C minor
No. 14
by W. A. Mozart
Drawing of Mozart in silverpoint by Dora Stock in 1789
Key	C minor
Catalogue	K. 457
Style	Classical period
Composed	1784 (1784)
Dedication	Theresia von Trattner
Published	1785
Movements	Three (Molto allegro, Adagio, Allegro assai)

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The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed and completed in 1784, with the official date of completion recorded as 14 October 1784 in Mozart's own catalogue of works.^[1] It was published in December 1785 together with the Fantasy in C minor, K. 475, as Opus 11 by the publishing firm Artaria, Mozart's main Viennese publisher.

The title page bore a dedication to Theresia von Trattner (1758–1793), who was one of Mozart's pupils in Vienna. Her husband, Thomas von Trattner [de] (1717–1798), was an important publisher as well as Mozart's landlord in 1784. Eventually, the Trattners would become godparents to four of Mozart's children.

The piano sonata was composed during the approximately 10-year period of Mozart's life as a freelance artist in Vienna after he removed himself from the patronage of the Archbishop of Salzburg in 1781. It is one of the earliest of only six sonatas composed during the Vienna years, and was probably written either as a teaching tool or for personal use.^[2] Sonatas during this time were generally written for the domestic sphere – as opposed to a symphony or concerto, they were designed to convey ideas in a small, intimate setting.

A typical performance takes about 18 minutes.