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.
There are four movements in this string quartet:
The quartet was written for and dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, an amateur cellist. It is 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 of that year. [1]
The Menuetto is distinguished by the evolution, in the main minuet sections, from a fairly conventional theme to a highly chromatic, driven transition.
A typical performance of the quartet lasts 23 to 25 minutes.
The String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18, No. 5, was written between 1798 and 1800 by Ludwig van Beethoven and published in 1801, and dedicated to Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz. Beethoven modeled this quartet directly on Mozart's quartet in the same key, K. 464.
The String Quartet No. 20 in D major, K. 499, was written in 1786 in Vienna by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was published by – if not indeed written for – his friend Franz Anton Hoffmeister. Because of this, the quartet has acquired the nickname Hoffmeister. Hoffmeister had started issuing a series of chamber-music publications in 1785, including Mozart's K. 499 as well as Joseph Haydn's String Quartet No. 35, Op. 42.
The String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven and published in 1808. This work is the third of three of his "Razumovsky" cycle of string quartets, and is a product of his "middle" period. It consists of four movements:
The Octet in F major, D. 803 was composed by Franz Schubert in March 1824. It was commissioned by the renowned clarinetist Ferdinand Troyer and came from the same period as two of Schubert's other major chamber works, the 'Rosamunde' and 'Death and the Maiden' string quartets.
The String Quartet No. 14 in G major, K. 387, nicknamed the "Spring" quartet, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782 in Vienna. In the composer's inscription on the title page of the autograph score is stated: li 31 di decembre 1782 in vienna. The work was perhaps edited in 1783. This is the first of the Haydn Quartets, a set of six string quartets he wrote during his first few years in Vienna and dedicated to Joseph Haydn.
The Divertimento in E♭ major, K. 563, is a string trio, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1788, the year in which he completed his last three symphonies and his "Coronation" Piano Concerto. It is his last divertimento and different from his other divertimenti not only in its instrumentation but also in its compositorial ambition and scope.
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.
The Serenade No. 10 for winds in B-flat major, K. 361/370a, is a serenade by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart scored for thirteen instruments: twelve winds and string bass. The piece was composed in 1781 and is often known by the subtitle Gran Partita, though the title is a misspelling and not in Mozart's hand. It consists of seven movements.
Hyacinthe Jadin was a French composer who came from a musical family. His uncle Georges Jadin was a composer in Versailles and Paris, along with his father Jean Jadin, who had played bassoon for the French Royal Orchestra. He was one of five musical brothers, the best known of whom was Louis-Emmanuel Jadin.
The String Quintet No. 6 in E-flat major, K. 614, was completed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on April 12, 1791. It is Mozart's last major chamber work. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola
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. 3 in D major, Op. 44, No. 1, MWV R 30 was composed by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) in July 1838 at the age of 29. It premiered in 1839, then was published later in 1840. It is a traditional quartet, comprising two violins, a viola, and a cello. The piece is part of the Op. 44 set of 3 string quartets that Mendelssohn dedicated to the Crown Prince of Sweden.
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.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421/417b is the second of his 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.
The six string quartets, K. 168–173, were composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in late 1773 in Vienna. These are popularly known as the Viennese Quartets. Mozart may have hoped to have them published at the time, but they were published only posthumously by Johann André in 1801 as Mozart's Op. 94.
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.
Joseph Haydn's String Quartets, Op. 64, is a set of six string quartets composed in 1790. Along with six earlier quartets published under the opus numbers 54 and 55, they are known as the Tost quartets, after the Hungarian violinist and later merchant Johann Tost who helped Haydn find a publisher for the works. Unlike the earlier quartets, Haydn actually dedicated the Op. 64 set to Tost in gratitude for his efforts.
The divertimenti in F major, B-flat major, E-flat major, F major, and B-flat major are five companion compositions for pairs of oboes, horns and bassoons by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.