The Rondo finale of Mozart’s Sonata No. 3, K. 281, is an Allegro in B-flat major and cut time. A singing refrain returns between contrasting episodes, bringing a familiar shape to music that often changes texture and register. Trills, grace notes, brief pauses, and exchanges between the hands give the movement variety. Later, the refrain appears against a long trill, first with the melody in the lower hand and then with the roles reversed.

Refrain: Two pickup notes lead into a gently turning melody over spare lower support. The upper line alternates smooth groups with detached notes, while the bass adds sustained harmonies and short responses. The melody broadens into longer runs, then settles into a quieter, ornamented closing gesture. A short episode introduces broken-chord accompaniment beneath trills and brief upper replies.

First contrasting theme: A decorated melody unfolds over continuous lower notes. Longer trills and dotted figures interrupt its flowing line. The passage grows more animated through rising sequences and fuller accompaniment, then relaxes into a freer connecting phrase. A pause and a small upper run prepare the refrain’s return at the original tempo.

Repeated middle sections: A new idea alternates short upper phrases with lower rising figures. The bass then supplies a regular pulse beneath paired notes and a held melodic line. This short section repeats. A second repeated section places fuller chords above a changing bass, interrupts them with a marked pause, and closes with quieter replies. A broad rolled chord leads back to the familiar refrain.

Later episode and exchanged trills: Another contrast begins with a spacious upper melody over repeated lower notes. The accompaniment becomes more mobile, and the hands briefly move together through quicker figures. After a series of exchanges, a long right-hand trill sounds above the refrain in the left hand. The same arrangement is then reversed: the upper hand carries the melody while the lower hand sustains the trill. A short running figure releases each of these extended ornaments.

Final return and coda: The first contrasting theme reappears, followed by rising lines, trills, and a short transition. The refrain returns once more with its familiar changes of touch. The ending condenses the quiet ornamental gesture into a brief coda, then closes with a compact chordal cadence.

Interesting fact: The score gives separate examples for the two long trills and explicitly tells the player to execute the lower-hand trill like the preceding upper-hand one.