Classical Music | Music for Quartet

Recorded on 02/04/2015, uploaded on 06/25/2015

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

I.     Allegro
II.    Larghetto
III.   Menuetto: Moderato
IV.    Allegro assai

This work, intended for King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, shows off the subtlety and charm of Mozart’s late style. Wilhelm was an avid amateur cellist and Mozart was certainly not shy about exploiting the king’s proclivities, demanding from the cello one soaring melody after another while delegating the bass lines to its colleagues. We occasionally find such role reversals in the music of Mozart’s predecessors, Boccherini and Haydn, but rarely do we see them executed with such aplomb. In the opening Allegro we encounter one of these role reversals in the arching ascents of the second theme, a fitting foil to the gently falling first theme. Here the cello vaults into its upper register while the viola provides support from the bass line. The second movement, Larghetto, begins with the first violin conspicuously absent from the scene, while the cello enjoys the spotlight. Still, Mozart carefully avoids unnecessary lavishness, instructing the soloist to play sotto voce, under the voice. In the Minuet and Trio, perhaps one of his best examples of the form, Mozart’s mastery of contrapuntal styles is on full display. The Trio features a bubbly interchange between the middle voices, underlying a purposefully stodgy melody in the first violin. In the last movement, marked Allegro assai, we find ourselves amid a great chase—a theme familiar to Mozart’s finales. The players go on a romp, each taking turns leading the way through delightful twists and turns.     Tesla Quartet

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.