String Quartet in D major K.499

String Quartet in D major K.499 “Hoffmeister” (1786)

Allegretto

Menuetto

Adagio

Allegro

The “Hoffmeister” Quartet is a fascinating anomaly. Published as a one-off by Franz Anton Hoffmeister, it was written more or less midway between the last of the Haydn set and the first of the Prussian set and yet has strong inclinations away from those neighbouring quartets towards Beethoven and even Schubert. The anticipations of Schubert are mainly in the romantic harmonies of the opening Allegretto and the spontaneously expressive Adagio but also in the Ländler-style Menuetto. The future of the last movement is with Beethoven, who borrowed the main theme for the finale of his Quartet in F Op.18 No.1.

The “Hoffmeister” is a fascinating anomaly among Mozart’s string quartets. It matters little to us today that when it was first published, by Franz Anton Hoffmeister in Vienna in 1786, it was issued on its own rather than in the more usual set of six – although that, clearly, is the source of its nickname. What is really extraordinary about it is that, although it was written less than two years after the last of the set Mozart dedicated to Haydn and only three years before the first of those he dedicated to the King of Prussia, it has strong inclinations away from those neighbouring quartets towards Beethoven and even Schubert.

The anticipations of Schubert are mainly in the harmonies in the first movement, above all in the pathetic change to the minor in the second subject and in the modulations which extend the development section to positively romantic proportions. But there is something of Schubert also in the second movement, which is more a Ländler than a minuet, and in both the scoring and the adventurous harmonies of the Adagio. The future of the last movement, on the other hand, is with Beethoven, who borrowed the main theme for the finale of his Quartet in F, Op.18, No.1, and who learned much else from it besides.

The solitary Quartet in D major, commissioned by the publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister in 1786, is a fascinating anomaly. What is peculiar about it is not so much that it was issued alone rather than as part of a set as that it is so prophetic in style. Written only eighteen months after the last of the Haydn set, it seems nearer to Beethoven or Schubert than to Haydn or even, at times, Mozart himself.

The gentle pace of the first movement and, more particularly, the shape of the opening theme are both suggestive of Schubert. So too is the early intrusion of a forte chord of B minor. But the really striking moment from this point of view is the pathetic change of key in the second subject from A major to F sharp minor, the quiet melodic line of the first violin sustained over legato broken chords on second violin. In the circumstances it seems only natural that the Menuetto should be a Ländler. The cello figure urging the return of the theme at the end of the second section is a peculiarly Schubertian gesture.

The beginning of the Adagio with two violins playing sweetly together in thirds in G major is impeccably classical. When cello and viola have the same theme in the same key, also in thirds but now with sustained violin harmonies above them, the sound is positively romantic. Mozart seems to have been intrigued by this difference in texture: in the development, after dramatic multi-stopped chords have interrupted a virtuoso improvisation on the first violin, he makes a special point of the contrast by presenting the theme on viola and cello in a kind of canon with the two violins. It is an altogether daring inspiration, imaginatively scored and heightened by some remarkably liberated harmonies.

The future of the last movement is not with Schubert but with Beethoven, who borrowed the main theme for the finale of his Quartet in F major, Op.18, No.1. Having challenged himself in this way, Beethoven had to work very hard indeed to emulate the wit and contrapuntal vitality that Mozart achieves with such, to all appearances, effortless spontaneity.

The solitary Quartet in D major, commissioned by the publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister in 1786, is a fascinating anomaly. What is peculiar about it is not so much that it was issued alone rather than as part of a set - Hoffmeister cannot have forgotten the loss he had made with a set of piano quartets commissioned from Mozart in 1785 - as that it is so prophetic in style. Written only eighteen months after the last of the Haydn set, it seems nearer to Schubert or Beethoven than to Haydn or even, at times, Mozart himself.

The gentle pace of the first movement and, more particularly, the shape of the opening theme are both suggestive of Schubert. So too is the early intrusion of a forte chord of B minor. But the really striking moment from this point of view is the pathetic change of key in the second subject from A major to F sharp minor, the quiet melodic line of the first violin sustained over legato broken chords on second violin. Modulations are just as free in the development section, where they take place with the encouragement of an ostinato of staccato quavers derived from an apparently innocent cadence figure at the end of the exposition. Repeated at the end of the recapitulation, the quaver figure is extended into the coda where its tonally wayward influence is corrected only just in time.

It seems natural in the circumstances - with hindsight, of course - that the Menuetto should be a Ländler. The cello figure urging the return of the theme at the end of the second section is a peculiarly Schubertian gesture. On the other hand, the intensification of the contrapuntal involvement at this point, as at the equivalent point in the D minor trio section, is characteristic of Mozart at his most resourceful.

The beginning of the Adagio with two violins playing sweetly together in thirds in G major is impeccably classical. When cello and viola have the same theme in the same key, also in thirds but now with sustained violin harmonies above them, the sound is quite romantic. Mozart seems to have been intrigued by this difference in sound: in the development, after dramatic multi-stopped chords have interrupted a virtuoso improvisation on the first violin, he makes a special point of the contrast by presenting the theme on viola and cello in a kind of canon with the two violins. It is an altogether daring inspiration, imaginatively scored and heightened by some remarkably liberated harmonies.

The future of the last movement is not with Schubert but with Beethoven, who borrowed the main theme for the finale of his Quartet in F major, Op.18, No.1. Having challenged himself in this way, Beethoven had to work very hard indeed to emulate the wit and contrapuntal vitality that Mozart achieves with - to all appearances at least - such effortless spontaneity.

The solitary Quartet in D major, which was published by Hofmeister in September 1786, is a fascinating anomaly. Written only eighteen months after the last of the Haydn set, it seems nearer to Schubert or Beethoven than to Haydn or even, at times, Mozart. Attempts to explain its origins have included the theory that, like the Requiem, it was commissioned by Graf Walsegg auf Stuppach to pass off as his own work. If that were true, it is highly improbable that it would have been published under Mozart’s name within a month of its completion. But, just supposing that Walsegg had commissioned it and that the subterfuge had gone undetected, it would be a far more famous work than it is, celebrated for its remarkable prophetic qualities.

The gentle pace of the first movement and, more particularly, the shape of the opening theme are both suggestive of Schubert, and so too is the intrusion of a forte chord of B minor. But the really striking moment from this point of view is the pathetic change of key in the second subject from A major to F sharp minor, the quiet melodic line of the first violin sustained over legato broken chords on second violin. The change from F sharp minor to F major is even more abrupt. Modulations are just as free in the development section, where they take place with the encouragement of an ostinato of staccato quavers derived from an apparently innocent cadence figure at the end of the exposition. Repeated at the end of the recapitulation, the quaver figure is extended into the coda where its tonally way ward influence I corrected only just in time.

It seems natural in the circumstances - though retrospectively, of course - that the Menuetto should be a Ländler. The cello figure urging the return of the theme at the end of the second section is a peculiarly Schubertian gesture. On the other hand, only Mozart would so skilfully have intensified the contrapuntal involvement at this point and at the equivalent point in the D minor Trio.

The beginning of the Adagio with two violins playing sweetly together in thirds in G major is impeccably classical. But when cello and viola have the same theme in the same key, also in thirds but with sustained violin harmonies above them, the sound is quite romantic. Mozart seems to have been intrigued by this difference of sound: in the development, after dramatic double-stopped chords have interrupted a virtuoso improvisation of the first violin, he makes a special point of the contrast by presenting the theme on viola and cello in canon with the two violins. It is, in fact, a spontaneously experimental movement, enterprisingly scored and heightened by some remarkable harmonies, the most adventurous being those which lead back from the double -stopped chords in C sharp? To the tonic D major in the coda.

The future of the last movement is not with Schubert but with Beethoven, who borrowed the main theme for the finale of his Quartet in F major, Op.18, No.1. He was evidently fascinated too by the figure on the dominant seventh pauses before the entry of the second theme in D major, since he makes much of it in the Malinconia section in the last movement of his Op.18, No.6. It is interesting, incidentally, that Mozart introduces his second theme in the tonic after modulating to the dominant. It gives him the chance to spring a bigger surprise in the recapitulation, where he reintroduces it in F major and so prolongs the construction until it can be led back into the tonic.