String Quartet No. 21 (Mozart)

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The String Quartet No. 21 in D major, K. 575, was written in June 1789 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It has acquired the nickname The Violet, used for example in Hans Keller's chapter of The Mozart Companion. It is the first of the Prussian Quartets.

There are four movements:

  1. Allegretto, in D major
  2. Andante, in A major
  3. Menuetto: Allegretto, in D major with a trio section in G major
  4. Allegretto in D major

The quartet was written for (and in Mozart's private 'thematic catalogue') was described as being dedicated to the King of Prussia, [1] Friedrich Wilhelm II, an amateur cellist. Of the three Prussian Quartets, K. 575 was the only one Mozart referred to in this way. [1] The quartet was written in a similar style to the quartets of Joseph Haydn. Mozart and his friend Karl Lichnowsky met the king in Potsdam in April 1789. Mozart played before the king in Berlin on 26 May 1789, then returned to Vienna. [2]

A typical performance lasts around 24 minutes.

The middle part of the song "Mozart's House" by UK based indie electronic band Clean Bandit samples the piece. [3]

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The String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K. 515 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola.

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The String Quintet No. 1 in B-flat major, K. 174, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in December 1773. Unlike Mozart's other viola quintets, which are scored for two violins, two violas and cello, this early work is scored for two violins, two violas and basso. It is inspired by Michael Haydn viola quintets in C major and G major, written earlier in the same year.

The String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat major, K. 428/421b, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1783. This is the third of the Haydn Quartets, a set of six string quartets he wrote during his first few years in Vienna and later dedicated to Joseph Haydn.

The Op. 33 String Quartets were written by Joseph Haydn in the summer and Autumn of 1781 for the Viennese publisher Artaria. This set of string quartets has several nicknames, the most common of which is the "Russian" quartets, because Haydn dedicated the quartets to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia and many of the quartets were premiered on Christmas Day, 1781, at the Viennese apartment of the Duke's wife, the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. Some scholars theorize that the "Russian" quartets were the inspiration for Mozart's six string quartets dedicated to Haydn, but no direct evidence has been found.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421/417b is the second of the Quartets dedicated to Haydn and the only one of the set in a minor key. Though undated in the autograph, it is believed to have been completed in 1783, while his wife Constanze Mozart was in labour with her first child Raimund. Constanze stated that the rising string figures in the second movement corresponded to her cries from the other room.

The Milanese Quartets, K. 155–160, are a set of six string quartets composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in late 1772 and early 1773 when he was sixteen and seventeen years old. They are called 'Milanese' because Mozart composed them in Milan while he was working on his opera Lucio Silla. Before this set was composed, Mozart had written one earlier string quartet, so these six quartets are numbered from No. 2 to No. 7. The quartets are written in a plan of keys of D–G–C–F–B–E following the circle of fourths.

Violin Sonata No. 32 in B-flat major is a composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was completed in Vienna on April 21, 1784, and was published by Christoph Torricella in a group of three sonatas.

The Prussian Quartets are a set of three string quartets, nos. 21–23, nicknamed 'Prussian', composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart between 1789 and 1790 and dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II. They were posthumously published in December 1791 by Artaria as Op. 18, only a few weeks after Mozart's death. Although not considered on a par with the earlier, more famous Haydn Quartets, these pieces are noted for their beauty, equilibrium amongst the instruments and the exceptional prominence and cantabile nature of the cello part. These are also the only pieces in this genre that Mozart composed 'to order', i.e. as a commission from a royal patron.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his String Quartet No. 22 in B-flat major, K. 589 after a visit to the court of King Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia. Mozart traveled with his friend and piano student Prince Carl Lichnowsky, and during these travels they had the opportunity to stop in Potsdam and hold an audience for Mozart at the King's court. Mozart was under financial stress and hoped to hold a position at the court of King Wilhelm II. Wilhelm was an amateur cellist, which is why the set of Prussian Quartets, of which the String Quartet No. 22 is a part, features an unusually prominent role for the cello. Despite such compositional efforts by Mozart to gain employment from the king, these quartets were sold without any dedication and published by Artaria.

The String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590, was written in June 1790 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is the third of the Prussian Quartets.

References

  1. 1 2 Tyson, Alan (1975). "New Light on Mozart's 'Prussian' Quartets". The Musical Times . 116 (1584): 126–130. doi:10.2307/1193913.
  2. Sadie, Stanley (11 November 1982). The New Grove Mozart. p. 154. ISBN   0-333-34199-6.
  3. "Clean Bandit: A classical approach to pop music". www.bbc.co.uk. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2023.