String Quartet No. 18 (Mozart)

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quartet No. 18 in A major K. 464, the fifth of the Quartets dedicated to Haydn, was completed in 1785[1] It is in four movements:

  1. Allegro
  2. Menuetto and Trio
  3. Andante
  4. Allegro non troppo

The whole piece is characterized by the use of several different contrapuntal devices.[2] In England "this quartet is known as the Drum because the cello part in variation six [of the Andante] maintains a staccato drum-like motion."[3]

This quartet was the model for Beethoven's String Quartet in A major, Opus 18 No. 5.[4]

[edit] Discography

It is easiest to find this piece recorded on sets of Mozart's Haydn Quartets, or of all his string quartets. However, there is a CD on the ASV label by the Lindsay Quartet which pairs this A major string quartet with Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in the same key, K. 581 (with Janet Hilton joining the Lindsays).

[edit] References

  1. ^ John Irving, Mozart: The 'Haydn' Quartets. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1998): 13. "K. 464 and K. 465 were entered ... into Mozart's own handwritten thematic catalogue ... on 10 and 14 January [1785], respectively."
  2. ^ Reginald Barrett-Ayres, Joseph Haydn and the String Quartet. London: Barrie & Jenkins (1974): 197. "Every form of contrapuntal device is used here."
  3. ^ Barrett-Ayres (1974): 198
  4. ^ Nicholas Marston, "Chamber music for strings alone" The Beethoven Compendium: A Guide to Beethoven's Life and Music ed. Barry Cooper. Ann Arbor: Borders Press (1991): 233
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Six Quartets Decicated to Haydn by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
List of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart