Violin Sonata no. 31 in C major, K.404
Classical Sonata Violin and Piano
In brief

This sonata has a bright, intimate character, alternating singing lines and alert exchanges between violin and piano that call for clear articulation of the musical argument rather than large dramatic gestures. Technically, you will need to work on Vibrato (3.6/5) — here that means controlling width and speed to color sustained lines without overpowering the piano — and on Bow Legato (Legato d'archet, 3.6/5), which requires very smooth changes of direction and string crossings to connect phrases seamlessly. From a factual standpoint, the piece belongs to the Classical period and sits within Mozart’s chamber-music output for violin and piano, where the piano often assumes a more equal conversational role with the violin. I do not provide a reference recording because I am not fully certain of a single definitive interpretation for this specific sonata.

Formation

Violin and piano · 2 performers

Required forces
Violin 1 performers
Piano 1 performers
Playable parts
Violin Piano
MusicCoach difficulty
36/100
Elementary
Likely range : 15–56/100
Confidence : 55% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 3 to 4

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
2
18/100 normalised
MusicCoach expertise
55
55/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
18%
Among Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
13%
Era Classical
15%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Technique
Bow legato
1
Tone
Vibrato
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
2
Style
Classical style
2
Technique
Position changes
1
Technique
Intonation
1
Technique
Legato
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
2
Interpretation
Phrasing
2
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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