In Mozart's Sonata k.330 (#11), there is a trill in the beginning. Should I play it on the main note (starts on C and alternates with D) or start on the next note, which is D (since in mozarts time this was the practice). If I start on the upper note, the left hand notes fit in nicely with the right hand, (one left hand note for every two in the trill), but when I start on the main note the trill is on, the notes do not line up. Which way is recommended?

In this case, I'd start from above (D-C).

By the way, in the 3rd mvt., I'd play the trill in the 4th measure starting on the main note, as that note is a "passing tone."

I am also studying a Mozart sonata and my teacher told me that all the trills start on the upper note.

Amy:

Your teacher (and you) might be interested in the following paragraph which I am quoting, in part, from the General Preface of the Associated Board Edition of the Mozart Sonatas, edited by Bowen and Raymar, with the introduction written by Aubyn Raymer - admittedly an old edition:

"Leopold Mozart insists that every trill, even the shortest, must begin on its auxiliary or upper note. Nevertheless, musical sense soon finds necessary exceptions to this general rule. Possibly ancient theorists, equally with composers, could risk taking for granted the diffusion and functioning of musical common sense and knowledge both among amateurs and public performers. It would be absurd to begin Mozart's B flat Sonata (No. 3), for example, on C, or to open the Adagio of the Second Sonata (F major) on any note other than C. One might as well alter the sense of Bach's Fugue in F sharp major (No. 13, Bk. II.) by starting it on the tonic. Possessed of the slenderest information, hardly anyone is likely to start the Prelude in G minor of the First Book on a ninth, except by sheer inadvertence. In playing Mozart, the student may make for himself a counter-rule (to the ancient prescription) for [trills] which occur on the first note of a movement, on the first note of a new phrase, or after a rest..."

Interesting?

Regards,

Just to show how little consensus there is over matters of ornamentation, the latest ABRSM edition of the Mozart sonatas contradicts the older one mentioned by Bruce. Raymar wrote that "It would be absurd to begin Mozart's B flat Sonata (No. 3), for example, on C," yet in the newer edition Denis Matthews suggests exactly that. In fact the C is like a leading note onto a short trill beginning on the B flat in Matthews's realisation. I have always played this and it doesn't sound absurd to me.

BTW in K330 I always start the first trill on the D.

In the first movement of the same sonata, there is another trill that occurs early on- there is a # sign above and below the trill sign, above E and than A when it repeats. What should I play, I ask this because the G schirmer edition has a a footnote on it and it is rather strange, there is a D in the trill, but it is only supposed to be E-F. (what do the sharp # signs do to it?) Thanks!

I guess you mean bar 37 and the same figure at 124 in the recapitulation? It seems like the Schirmer editor suggests a turn (E-F#-E-D#-E-F#, hence the two sharps above and below the marking). It is often the case that Mozart intended a turn when he simply gave a trill marking, and it sounds quite good here (I just tried it). In the recapitulation you will need to play G# if you use the turn, and B natural. The simplest thing would be to play an inverted mordant on the E (up to F# of course)- but this would be breaking the always-start-on-the-note-above rule (which is not really a rule). The ABRSM edition I use gives F#-E-F#-E-F#, the last F# being the demisemiquaver after the trill note. The first three notes are played as a triplet.

Out of curiosity, how are you fingering the rather awkward trills in bb. 127-128 and 135-136?