Serenade (Quintet) in C minor, K.406

The most unlikely item in Mozart’s chamber-music catalogue is the String Quintet in C minor K.406, which he arranged from the Serenade in C minor K.388 for eight wind instruments. The original wind piece is anomalous enough, in that it is a strangely severe inspiration for an open-air serenade. For what occasion he wrote the Serenade, to an apparently urgent commission in 1782, we do not know. We do not know either why or when he made the arrangement for string quintet, although it is likely that it was to make up the set of three such works (for two violins, two violas and cello) that he offered for sale by subscription in the Wiener Zeitung in 1788.

Alongside the other two, the wonderful String Quintets in C major K515 and G minor K516, it seems curiously out of place. On its own, it sounds convincing enough. Besides, in the first movement at least, the succession of events is so dramatic that it would be compulsive listening any medium. The one ray of light in this sombre opening Allegro in C minor is the charmingly melodious second subject introduced by violin (oboe in the original) in E flat major. When that melody is eventually recalled, however, it is as a pathetic variant in C minor, which grim mood prevails to the end of the movement.

If the Andante in E flat major, a spontaneous extension of melody well suited to strings, seems to offer some relief, the following movement does not. It is not just a matter of the C minor tonality of the Menuetto but also its austere canonic texture, cello following hard on violin. So it is up to the Allegro fourth movement, a theme and variations, to resolve the issue one way or another. Up to about half way through a happy ending seems unlikely. What changes the situation in the wind original is a horn call, awarded here to the two violas, which transforms the atmosphere and which leads in the end to an actually cheerful C major version of the main theme.

The most unlikely item in Mozart’s chamber music is the String Quintet in C minor K.406 which he arranged from the Serenade in C minor K.388 for eight wind instruments. The original wind piece is anomalous enough, in that it is a strangely severe inspiration for an open-air serenade, but at least its material was conceived for the medium. Since this is clearly not the case with the string quintet arrangement, it surely does no harm to present it as a serenade for string orchestra. Indeed, since the orchestra can supply the weight of sound available to a wind octet (two each of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons) but not to a string quintet, it might even do some good.

For what occasion Mozart wrote his serious-minded wind Serenade, to an apparently urgent commission in 1782, we do not know. We do not know either why or when he made the arrangement for string quintet, although it is likely that it was to make up the set of three such works (for two violins, two violas and cello) that he offered for sale by subscription in the Wiener Zeitung in 1788. In comparison with the other two, the wonderful String Quintets in C major K515 and G minor K516, it seems like a mistake on Mozart’s part. On its own, and in an orchestral version too, it sounds convincing enough. Besides, in the first movement at least, the succession of events is so dramatic that it would be compulsive listening any medium. The one ray of light in this sombre opening Allegro in C minor is the charmingly melodious second subject introduced by violins (oboe in the original) in E flat major. Although the attitude of the short development section is not encouraging, the ear inevitably awaits the return of that conciliatory melody in C major. But it doesn’t happen. When the second subject is recalled it is as a pathetic variant in C minor, which grim mood prevails to the end of the movement.

If the Andante in E flat major, a spontaneous extension of melody well suited to strings, seems to offer some relief, the following movement does not. It is not just a matter of the C minor tonality of the Menuetto but also its austere canonic texture, cellos following hard on the violins. Although it is in C major, the central Trio section not only retains the canonic working but also inverts the melodic line on every entry. So it is up to the Allegro fourth movement, a theme and variations, to resolve the issue one way or another. Up to about half way through a happy ending seems unlikely. What changes the situation in the wind original is a horn call, the colour of which cannot be reproduced in a string arrangement (in the Quintet Mozart awards it to the two violas) but which transforms the atmosphere and which leads in the end to an actually cheerful C major version of the main theme.

Gerald Larner©2003