Mozart’s Rondo in A minor + listening guide

How do you listen to music? Do you let it wash over you? Feel it viscerally? Contemplate its inner workings?

I’m endlessly fascinated by the listening experience (see: Music Listening: an Incomplete Manifesto), and for years I’ve dreamed of creating listening guides synched to music.

This is my first attempt at such—a personal tour through Mozart’s Rondo in A minor, K. 511.

Mozart’s music tends to be “absolute music.” It’s music for music’s sake and not intended to represent or illustrate something else. This quality makes it tricky to describe, as it lacks the clear narrative entry points found in program music like Debussy’s Clair de lune. And it sometimes leads to post-performance questions like, “I don’t get it... what’s it about?”

Yet there’s so much to observe, describe, and adore in Mozart’s work, from his unsurpassed craft to his profound understanding of human emotions, and this is my attempt to align my personal insights with clear, audible examples in the music.

Of course, listening is a highly personal journey, so I’ve embedded the guide in the video’s closed captions. Toggle them on and off as you like.

Please enjoy this love letter to Mozart, leave your thoughts in the video’s comments, and stay tuned for more Mozart projects to come!