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String Quartet No. 19 (Mozart)
Encyclopedia
The String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, KV
. 465 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, nicknamed "Dissonance
" on account of its unusual slow introduction, is perhaps the most famous of his quartets. It is the last in the set of six quartets
composed between 1782-1785 that he dedicated to Joseph Haydn
.
According to the catalog of works Mozart began early the preceding year, the quartet was completed on January 14, 1785.
The first movement opens with ominous quiet Cs in the cello
, joined successively by the viola
(on A moving to a G), the second violin
(on E) and the first violin (on A), thus creating the "dissonance" itself and narrowly avoiding a greater one. This lack of harmony and fixed key continues throughout the slow introduction before resolving into the bright C major of the Allegro section of the first movement, which is in sonata form.
Mozart goes on (
Listen) to use chromatic and whole tone scales to outline fourths. Arch shaped lines emphasizing fourths in the first violin (C - F - C) and the violoncello (G - C - C' - G') are combined with lines emphasizing fifths in the second violin and viola. Over the barline between the second and third measures of the example a fourth-suspension can be seen in the second violin's tied C. In another of his string quartets, KV 464
, such fourth-suspensions are also very prominent.
The second movement is in sonatina
form, i.e. lacking the development
section. Alfred Einstein writes of the coda of this movement that "the first violin openly expresses what seemed hidden beneath the conversational play of the subordinate theme."
The third movement is a minuet
and trio
, with the exuberant mood of the minuet darkening into the C minor of the trio.
The last movement is also in sonata form
.
Köchel-Verzeichnis
The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. It is abbreviated K or KV. For example, Mozart's Requiem in D minor was, according to Köchel's counting, the 626th piece Mozart composed....
. 465 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, nicknamed "Dissonance
Consonance and dissonance
In music, a consonance is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance , which is considered to be unstable...
" on account of its unusual slow introduction, is perhaps the most famous of his quartets. It is the last in the set of six quartets
Haydn Quartets (Mozart)
The "Haydn" Quartets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are a set of six string quartets published in 1785 in Vienna, dedicated to the composer Joseph Haydn. They are considered to be the pinnacle of Classical string quartet writing, containing some of Mozart's most memorable melodic writing and refined...
composed between 1782-1785 that he dedicated to Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
.
According to the catalog of works Mozart began early the preceding year, the quartet was completed on January 14, 1785.
Movements
As is normal with Mozart's later quartets, it is in four movements:- Adagio-Allegro
- Andante cantabileCantabileCantabile is a musical term meaning literally "singable" or "songlike" . It has several meanings in different contexts. In instrumental music, it indicates a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice. For 18th century composers, the term is often used synonymously with...
- in F majorF majorF major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years... - MenuettoMinuetA minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
. Allegro. (C major, trio in C minorC minorC minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The harmonic minor raises the B to B. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with naturals and accidentals as necessary.Its key signature consists of three flats...
) - Allegro molto
The first movement opens with ominous quiet Cs in the cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, joined successively by the viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
(on A moving to a G), the second violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
(on E) and the first violin (on A), thus creating the "dissonance" itself and narrowly avoiding a greater one. This lack of harmony and fixed key continues throughout the slow introduction before resolving into the bright C major of the Allegro section of the first movement, which is in sonata form.
Listen) to use chromatic and whole tone scales to outline fourths. Arch shaped lines emphasizing fourths in the first violin (C - F - C) and the violoncello (G - C - C' - G') are combined with lines emphasizing fifths in the second violin and viola. Over the barline between the second and third measures of the example a fourth-suspension can be seen in the second violin's tied C. In another of his string quartets, KV 464String Quartet No. 18 (Mozart)
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 Mozart's autograph catalogue states as the date of composition "1785. / the 10th January"...
, such fourth-suspensions are also very prominent.
The second movement is in sonatina
Sonatina
A sonatina is literally a small sonata. As a musical term, sonatina has no single strict definition; it is rather a title applied by the composer to a piece that is in basic sonata form, but is shorter, lighter in character, or more elementary technically than a typical sonata...
form, i.e. lacking the development
Musical development
In European classical music, musical development is a process by which a musical idea is communicated in the course of a composition. It refers to the transformation and restatement of initial material, and is often contrasted with musical variation, which is a slightly different means to the same...
section. Alfred Einstein writes of the coda of this movement that "the first violin openly expresses what seemed hidden beneath the conversational play of the subordinate theme."
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
and trio
Ternary form
Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form, usually schematicized as A-B-A. The first and third parts are musically identical, or very nearly so, while the second part in some way provides a contrast with them...
, with the exuberant mood of the minuet darkening into the C minor of the trio.
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
.
External links
- 'Mozart - Quartet in C major, K465 (Dissonance)', lecture by Professor Roger Parker, followed by a performance by The Badke Quartet, Gresham CollegeGresham CollegeGresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in central London, England. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham and today it hosts over 140 free public lectures every year within the City of London.-History:Sir Thomas Gresham,...
, 10 October 2007 (available for download as MP3 or MP4, as well as a text document) - http://traffic.libsyn.com/gardnermuseum/mozart_k465.mp3Recording by the Borromeo String QuartetBorromeo String QuartetThe Borromeo String Quartet is an American string quartet, in residence at the New England Conservatory since 1992. They have performed throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, at numerous festivals and in many distinguished chamber music series...
] from the Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner MuseumThe Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
in MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format