Violin Sonata no. 21 in E minor, K.304
Classical Sonata Violin and Piano
In brief

This E minor sonata has a tense, intimate mood, alternating agitated figures and restrained cantabile passages that require very controlled breathing. Among the technical challenges, Phrasing (3.6/5) here means shaping long lines with subtle dynamic inflections and well-placed breaths to preserve musical direction, and Vibrato (3.6/5) requires steady control of width and speed to color sustained notes without upsetting intonation. Composed in the Classical period, it stands out in Mozart's output for its darker, concise character and is often noted for reflecting a more introspective moment in his work. I do not provide a recommended recording here, as I prefer not to cite specific interpretations unless I can do so with complete certainty.

Formation

Violin and piano · 2 performers

Required forces
Violin 1 performers
Piano 1 performers
Playable parts
Violin Piano
MusicCoach difficulty
56/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 48–64/100
Confidence : 56% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 6

Estimated from our difficulty score, not taken from an exam syllabus. Checked against 333 works on the ABRSM syllabus: the exact grade is right 7 times out of 10, and within one grade 99 times out of 100.

Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.

Where this work sits
050100

Most works cluster between 45 and 65: a small score gap often marks a real step. The highlighted bar shows this work among those for the same instrument.

The MusicCoach difficulty measures a work's overall demands (technique, reading, stamina) on a shared 0-100 scale, consolidated from editorial and pedagogical reference points (Henle, exam syllabuses, curation) and our own analyses. It measures neither musical value nor the practice time YOU will need: two musicians of the same level can experience the same work very differently depending on their strengths (hands used to octaves, quick sight-reading…). The confidence reflects how many reference points sit behind the score and how well they agree — a lightly documented score is flagged “to validate”. For a truly personal bearing, the diagnostic and your space compare each work to YOUR estimated level, which the score alone cannot do.

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Difficulty sources
Henle Verlag
5
50/100 normalised · 4 obs.
MusicCoach expertise
58
58/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
80%
Among Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
74%
Era Classical
40%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Technique
Bow legato
1
Style
Classical style
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
2
Tone
Vibrato
2
Theory
Harmonic analysis
3
Technique
Position changes
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
2
Technique
Fast passages
1
What to play next?

Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.

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