String Quartet in A major, K.464

Although he would obviously have been delighted to be declared by Joseph Haydn “the greatest composer known to me either in person or in name,” Mozart must have been even more pleased to be reassured that he had “taste and, what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition.” Other musicians recognised the knowledge but were dubious about the taste. The very same string quartets that inspired Haydn’s testimonial - the set of six Mozart dedicated to him in 1785 - were criticised by distinguished composer colleague, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, for their “overwhelming and unrelenting artfulness.”

Beethoven, who took the Quartet in A major as a model for some aspects of his own Quartet in the same key, Op.18, No.5, clearly had no such doubts. While he cannot have been unaware of what Mozart described in his dedication as the “long and laborious endeavour” that had gone into the Haydn set, he would also have known that Mozart’s spontaneity was never inhibited by his learning. The canonic treatment applied to the main theme of the opening Allegro is remarkable not so much for its contrapuntal skill as for the dramatic effect of the A minor harmonies that go with it and the charmingly disingenuous shift from there to an innocent little episode in C major. Even so, it is the contrapuntal interest that predominates here: the second subject also proliferates into a canon and the development is concerned mainly with the canonic version of the first subject.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the Menuetto is that its theme is presented in two parts of four bars each which are then combined, one above the other, in counterpoint. If the outer sections seem a little severe in their insistence on exploring the different ways in which those two parts can be put together, the melodious E major Trio is a tasteful and luxuriantly scored compensation.

As a more prolonged relief from laborious endeavour, the Andante takes the comparatively undemanding form of a theme and variations. Although Mozart is by no means averse to indulging in counterpoint here, least of all in the fifth variation, his most striking inspirations are the operatically expressive fourth variation in D minor and the oddly persistent percussive figure introduced by the cello in the sixth and last.

The chromatic opening theme of the Allegro non troppo is a combination of the most prominent characteristics of the first and second subjects of the first movement. To compound the economy, by reintroducing this key theme in an E-major canon on violins and viola over a rhythmic ostinato on the cello, Mozart presses it into service as second subject too. That - together with one other melodic idea, quietly introduced towards the end of the development in chorale-like harmonies and longer note values - is all the material this infinitely resourceful finale has to live on. “overwhelming and unrelenting artfulness.”

Beethoven, who took the Quartet in A major as a model for some aspects of his own Quartet in the same key, Op.18, No.5, clearly had no such doubts. While he cannot have been unaware of what Mozart described in his dedication as the “long and laborious endeavour” that had gone into the Haydn set, he would also have known that Mozart’s spontaneity was never inhibited by his learning. The canonic treatment applied to the main theme of the opening Allegro, almost as soon as it is introduced, is remarkable not so much for its contrapuntal skill as for the dramatic effect of the A minor harmonies that go with it and the charmingly disingenuous shift from there to an innocent little episode in C major. Even so, it is the contrapuntal interest that predominates here. The second subject also proliferates into a canon and the development is concerned mainly with the canonic version of the first subject.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the Menuetto - placed second here, presumably to make room for an unusually spacious slow movement - is that its theme is presented in two parts of four bars each which are then combined, one above the other, in counterpoint. If the outer sections seem a little severe in their insistence on exploring the different ways in which those two parts can be put together, the melodious E major Trio is a tasteful and luxuriantly scored compensation.

As a more prolonged relief from laborious endeavour, the Andante takes the comparatively undemanding form of a theme and variations. Although Mozart is by no means averse to indulging in counterpoint here, least of all in the fifth variation, his most striking inspirations are the operatically expressive fourth variation in D minor and the oddly persistent percussive figure introduced by the cello in the sixth and last. Sustained by one instrument or another through most of the coda, the drumming is finally linked with the theme in its original form on its returns in the closing bars.

Beethoven was so impressed by the last movement that he made himself thoroughly familiar with it by copying it out. Haydn too would have admired the inexhaustible contrapuntal enterprise on the one hand and the thematic economy on the other. The chromatic opening theme is a combination of the most prominent characteristics of the first and second subjects of the first movement. To compound the economy, by reintroducing this key theme in an E-major canon on violins and viola over a rhythmic ostinato on the cello, Mozart presses it into service as second subject too. That, basically, is all the material the finale has to live on. There is one other melodic idea, quietly introduced towards the end of the development in chorale-like harmonies and longer note values. But this is only a brief contrast in pace and texture to offset the reappearance of the main theme which, far from exhausting its potential in the recapitulation, is still resourceful enough to inspire a witty and enigmatic coda.

Although he would obviously have been delighted to be declared by Joseph Haydn “the greatest composer known to me either in person or in name,” Mozart must have been even more pleased to be reassured that he had “taste and, what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition.” Other musicians recognised the knowledge but were dubious about the taste. The very same string quartets that inspired Haydn’s testimonial – the set of six Mozart dedicated to him in 1785 – were criticised by distinguished composer colleague, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, for their “overwhelming and unrelenting artfulness.”

Beethoven, who took the Quartet in A major as a model for some aspects of his own Quartet in the same key Op.18 No.5, clearly had no such doubts. While he cannot have been unaware of what Mozart described in his dedication as the “long and laborious endeavour” that had gone into the Haydn set, he would also have known that Mozart’s spontaneity was never inhibited by his learning. The canonic treatment applied to the main theme of the opening Allegro is remarkable not so much for its contrapuntal skill as for the dramatic effect of the A minor harmonies that go with it and the charmingly disingenuous shift from there to an innocent little episode in C major. Even so, it is the contrapuntal interest that predominates here: the second subject also proliferates into a canon and the development is concerned mainly with the canonic version of the first subject.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the Menuetto is that its theme is presented in two parts of four bars each which are then combined, one above the other, in counterpoint. If the outer sections seem a little severe in their insistence on exploring the different ways in which those two parts can be put together, the melodious E major Trio is a tasteful and luxuriantly scored compensation.

As a more prolonged relief from laborious endeavour, the Andante takes the comparatively undemanding form of a theme and variations. Although Mozart is by no means averse to indulging in counterpoint here, least of all in the fifth variation, his most striking inspirations are the operatically expressive fourth variation in D minor and the oddly persistent percussive figure introduced by the cello in the sixth and last.

The chromatic opening theme of the Allegro non troppo is a combination of the most prominent characteristics of the first and second subjects of the first movement. To compound the economy, by reintroducing this key theme in an E-major canon on violins and viola over a rhythmic ostinato on the cello, Mozart presses it into service as second subject too. That – together with one other melodic idea, quietly introduced towards the end of the development in chorale-like harmonies and longer note values – is all the material this infinitely resourceful finale has to live on. There is one other melodic idea, quietly introduced towards the end of the development in chorale-like harmonies and longer note values. But this is only a brief contrast in pace and texture to offset the reappearance of the main theme which, far from exhausting its potential in the recapitulation, is still resourceful enough to inspire a witty and enigmatic coda.

Although he would obviously have been delighted to be declared by Joseph Haydn “the greatest composer known to me either in person or in name,” Mozart must have been even more pleased to be reassured that he had “taste and, what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition.” Other musicians recognised the knowledge but were dubious about the taste. The very same string quartets that inspired Haydn’s testimonial - the set of six Mozart dedicated to him in 1785 - were considered by a rival publisher to be in “very peculiar taste.” A distinguished composer colleague, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, disliked their “overwhelming and unrelenting artfulness.”

Beethoven, who took the Quartet in A major as a model for some aspects of his own Quartet in the same key, Op.18, No.5, clearly had no such doubts. He cannot have been unaware of what Mozart described in his dedication as the “long and laborious endeavour” that had gone into the Haydn set and he might even have reckoned that there was more evidence of it in this work than in any of the other five. But he would also have known that Mozart’s spontaneity was never inhibited by his learning. The canonic treatment applied to the main theme of the opening Allegro, almost as soon as it is introduced, is remarkable not so much for its contrapuntal skill as for the dramatic effect of the A minor harmonies that go with it and the charmingly disingenuous shift from there to an innocent little episode in C major. In general, however, it is the contrapuntal interest that predominates here. The second subject also proliferates into a canon and the development is concerned mainly with the canonic version of the first subject.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the Menuetto - placed second here, presumably to make room for an unusually spacious slow movement - is that its theme is presented in two parts of four bars each which are then combined, one above the other, in counterpoint. If the outer sections seem a little severe in their insistence on exploring the different ways in which those two parts can be put together, the melodious E major Trio is a tasteful and luxuriantly scored compensation.

As a more prolonged relief from laborious endeavour, the Andante takes the comparatively undemanding form of a theme and variations. Although Mozart is by no means averse to indulging in counterpoint here, least of all in the fifth variation, his most striking inspirations

are the operatically expressive fourth variation in D minor and the oddly persistent percussive figure introduced by the cello in the sixth and last. Sustained by one instrument or another through most of the coda, the drumming is finally linked with the theme in its original form on its returns in the closing bars.

Beethoven was so impressed by the last movement that he made himself thoroughly familiar with it by copying it out. Haydn too would have admired the inexhaustible contrapuntal enterprise on the one hand and the thematic economy on the other. The chromatic opening theme is a combination of the most prominent characteristics of the first and second subjects of the first movement. To compound the economy, by reintroducing this key theme in an E-major canon on violins and viola over a rhythmic ostinato on the cello, Mozart presses it into service as second subject too. That, basically, is all the material the finale has to live on. There is one other melodic idea, quietly introduced towards the end of the development in chorale-like harmonies and longer note values. But this is only a brief contrast in pace and texture to offset the reappearance of the main theme which, far from exhausting its potential in the recapitulation, is still resourceful enough to inspire a witty and enigmatic coda.