String Quintet in G minor, K.516

It is always dangerous to attribute romantic motivation to music by a classical composers like Mozart. One might well speculate on what in May 1787 could have depressed him to the extent suggested by the Quintet in G minor. But in the same month he wrote the comparatively cheerful piano-duet Sonata in C major and only a couple of weeks later he was amusing himself with his so-called Musical Joke. The fact is that Mozart was a thorough professional to whom, as a composer, his own inner fears and problems were less relevant than the desirability of producing, say, a set of three symphonies as well contrasted as those in E flat major, G minor and C major completed in six weeks in the summer of 1788.

The situation is much the same with the pair of String Quintets in C major, K.515, and G minor, K.516, which Mozart is (quite plausibly) thought to have written to engage the interest of Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. Certainly, given the serenity of the one and the anxiety of the other, they set each other off to perfection. Even so, when listening to the first movement of K.516 - where even the rather more hopeful second subject is finally drawn into the minor harmonies as well as the throbbing ostinatos associated with the opening theme - one cannot help wondering…

Since the classical minuet is conventionally in the same key as the first movement, the G minor tonality of the Menuetto is not in itself a significant factor. On the other hand, with its emphatic multi-stopped chords on the last beat in the bar, this minuet is actually more disturbing than the equivalent movement in the great Symphony in G minor. The E flat major tonality of the Adagio is not significant either: muted throughout, it is a slow movement no less poignant than any by Mozart in a minor key, and that’s clear enough even before the change to B flat minor and the return of the throbbing ostinato round the expressive violin line and the sobbing viola.

After that Adagio, a happy ending seems most unlikely. In fact, it takes a substantial Adagio introduction to make the transition from the G minor expected at this point to the G major of the conciliatory Allegro rondo that closes the work.

It is always dangerous to attribute romantic motivation to music by a classical composers like Mozart. One might well speculate on what in May 1787 could have depressed him to the extent suggested by the Quintet in G minor. But in the same month he wrote the comparatively cheerful piano-duet Sonata in C major and only a couple of weeks later he was amusing himself with his so-called Musical Joke. The fact is that Mozart was a thorough professional to whom, as a composer, his own inner fears and problems were less relevant than the desirability of producing, say, a set of three symphonies as well contrasted as those in E flat major, G minor and C major completed in six weeks in the summer of 1788.

The situation is much the same with this pair of String Quintets in C major and G minor. Certainly, given the serenity of the one and the anxiety of the other, they set each other off to perfection. And yet, when listening to the first movement of K.516 - where even the rather more hopeful second subject is finally drawn into the minor harmonies as well as the throbbing ostinatos associated with the opening theme - one cannot help wondering…

Since the classical minuet is conventionally in the same key as the first movement, the G minor tonality of the Menuetto is not in itself a significant factor. On the other hand, with its emphatic multi-stopped chords on the last beat in the bar, this minuet is actually more disturbing than the equivalent movement in the great Symphony in G minor. The E flat major tonality of the Adagio is not significant either: muted throughout, it is a slow movement no less poignant than any by Mozart in a minor key, and that’s clear enough even before the change to B flat minor and the return of the throbbing ostinato round the expressive violin line and the sobbing viola. After that Adagio, a happy ending seems most unlikely. In fact, it takes a substantial Adagio introduction to make the transition from the G minor expected at this point to the G major of the conciliatory Allegro rondo that closes the work.

Offered for sale by subscription in 1788, together with the recently completed string-quintet arrangement of the wind Serenade in C K388, the Quintets in C major and G minor found few buyers and had to be withdrawn.

Gerald Larner ©2005