Streichquintette KV 174 & 406

Abstract

This remarkable work was the first of Mozart's string quintets, a group of works completed only in his final years with the composition of the four great quintets of 1787 to 1791 (a fifth, K. 406 [516b], is an arrangement of the Wind Serenade in C minor, K. 388). At the time of its composition in 1773, the quintet for two violins, two violas, and cello was a little-explored genre, composers such as Boccherini preferring the alternative disposition of two cellos rather than two violas. It was originally composed in Salzburg in the spring of 1773 in the aftermath of the Mozarts' (Wolfgang and his father Leopold) return from their third and final visit to Italy. Its immediate inspiration appears to have been two string quintets by Michael Haydn, the younger brother of the famous Joseph Haydn. Michael Haydn, who held the post of Konzertmeister (concertmaster) at the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg from 1763, composed a number of string quintets which he styled "notturni," a designation generally applied during this period to works of a lighter, serenade-like character.

Although Mozart's quintet displays some signs of the direct influence of Haydn's works (a duet for violin and viola in the second of the four movements), it is a far more ambitious and experimental work, displaying signs of immaturity only in the limited scope of the writing for the second viola. The four movements are marked Allegro moderato, Adagio, Menuetto, and Allegro. The first has a quasi-symphonic feel to it, with a particularly strong development section, while the final movement provides an early example of the contrapuntal skills Mozart would hone so finely in later years. Only in the inner movements is there evidence of the notturno-like style, with suggestions of echo-effects implied in the Adagio, explicit in the trio section of the Menuetto.

In the December of the same year Mozart made revisions to the work, the most substantial of which involved a complete rewriting of the extensive and complex finale. These were apparently made after Mozart had heard Joseph Haydn's Opp. 17 and 20 string quartets during a visit to Vienna in July and August 1773. Mozart himself obviously thought highly enough of the quintet for it to be one of a selected group of works he took with him on the long journey to Mannheim and Paris four years; a letter to his father from Mannheim states that it was one of the works he had copied and left there before resuming the journey to Paris. In 1788, Mozart set about transcribing for string quintet his Serenade for Winds in C minor, K. 388/384a, of 1782-1783. Lost in translation are some of the subtle shades of contrast in timbre. Imbued with an intensity that belies its purpose of social entertainment, the Serenade features a driving intensity fueled by chromaticism and irregular phrase structures that make it a more personal work than most of Mozart's occasional pieces. Thus, Mozart's transference of the piece to the more "serious" chamber music idiom of the string quintet seems quite natural. Unlike the transcription of the B flat major Serenade, K. 361/370a, that of the C minor Serenade is generally ranked with the original string quintets.

A spirited Allegro opens the Quintet with a unison statement of the main theme. Sudden and drastic dynamic contrasts characterize the exposition. After a brief development, the recapitulation begins like the exposition, but the secondary themes are varied.

In E flat major, the Andante second movement juxtaposes passages in which all the instruments move equally with those in which the first violin is clearly the leader. Moments of technical display, however, appear in each part. A figure of three repeated notes unifies the monothematic structure.

The Menuetto in Canone returns to C minor. The Haydnesque canon referred to in the title occurs between the first violin and the cello and is strict through nearly the entire first part of the Menuetto. There are several canonic passages in the second half, one of them in three voices, but nothing lengthy until the return of the first theme at the end. The C major Trio al Rovescio (Trio in inversion) boasts a double canon in inversion. The second violin takes the lead and is followed by the first violin, inverting the same tune and beginning a fourth higher. The first viola then enters at a fourth below the second violin and the cello enters a fourth below the viola, the theme inverted. Almost immediately after the cello begins, the canons fall apart and the phrase closes on G major. The second half of the Trio follows a similar process, but with two different tunes, one the subject of an inverted canon between the violins and the other a canon in inversion between the first viola and cello.

In variation form, the closing Allegro contains a passage of great instrumental ingenuity that seems more suited to the string quintet format than that of a small wind band. Early on, Mozart abandons the details of the theme, preferring instead to refer to its shape and harmonic progression. One consistent element throughout the variations are the leaps of a fourth and third that open each half of the two-part theme. The variation that most nearly replicates the theme is the very last, closing the work in C major.