Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/411

MOZART. friend Puchberg. The one in E&#x266d; (498) with clarinet and viola has been already mentioned; they were all written between 1786 and 1788. Broader in design and more powerful in expression are the two Quartets in G minor and E&#x266d; (478, 493), especially the first, which is effective even at the present day. The Quintet in E&#x266d; with oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon (45 2), composed in 1784, is particularly charming. Mozart played it to Paisiello, and wrote to his father 'I consider it the best I have yet written.' His Concertos, however, are the works which best represent him as a composer for the pianoforte. Their merit is incontestable, the solo instrument and the orchestra being welded into an organic whole. The first four were composed in 1767; six between 1773 and 1777; and the remaining seventeen in Vienna. Of the latter, the first three (413–415) were published in 1783 by Mozart himself; thirteen were composed between 1784 and 1788, and the last in B&#x266d; (595) in 1791. The last but one in D (537) is the 'Coronation concerto,' which he is said to have played at Frankfort, though according to other authorities it was that in F (459). The best and most popular are those in D minor (466), in C (467), C minor (491), and in C (503). The characteristics of the concertos maybe thus summarised—those in F, A, C (413–415), C minor (449) and B&#x266d; (456) are easiest of comprehension for a large audience; those in B&#x266d;, G, and A (450, 453, 488) bright and pleasing; those in D minor and C minor (466, 491) passionate and agitated; those in E&#x266d; and B&#x266d; (482, 595) serious and sustained; those in C and D (503, 537), brilliant and showy; the one in C (467) grand and poetic. The following have been already mentioned—Concerto for two P.F.s in E&#x266d; (365) composed in 1780, fine in the first and lively in the last movement; ditto for three P.F.s in F (242) composed 1776, and arranged by Mozart for two P.F.s with cadenzas; and a Concert-rondo in D (382), printed as the last movement of the concerto in D (175).

We now pass to the compositions for strings and wind. The Duets are few; and include those composed for Michael Haydn. The only Trio for violin, viola, and cello, in E&#x266d; (563) composed in 1788, is in six movements, like a divertimento; it is broadly designed, and worked out with the greatest zeal and care, 'a true cabinet-picture.' Of the first sixteen Quartets for two violins, viola, and cello, that in D minor (173), composed in 1773, rises obviously to a higher level. It was only after a pause of nine years (Nov. 1782) that Mozart resumed this branch of composition with the six dedicated to Haydn, each one a gem. Such however was not the popular verdict at the time; a critic of the day found them 'much too highly spiced'—and asks 'whose palate can stand that for any length of time?' Prince Grassalkowics tore up the parts in a rage at finding that they really contained the hideous stuff which was being played before him; and they were returned to Artaria from Italy as so full of mistakes that it was impossible to play from them. The chief stumblingblock was the much-abused introduction to the last quartet. In his next one, in D (499), Mozart tried to accommodate himself to the wishes of the public. The last three, in D, B&#x266d;, and F (575, 589, 590), were composed for the King of Prussia at a time when he was nearly crushed beneath a load of care and poverty, of which, however, the works bear no trace. The king's favourite instrument, the cello, has more than its full share of work, and in spite of the fine treatment and wealth of invention this is injurious to the character of the quartet. The Adagio with fugue (546) has been already noticed. The Quartets for flute and strings (285, 298), and for oboe obligato (370) are easy of execution, and of no special importance.

The Quintets must all be ascribed to external influences: Mozart invariably doubled the viola, instead of the cello as Boccherini did. The first, in B&#x266d; (46), was written in Vienna in 1768, and the autograph shows his still unformed boyish hand; the next, dated five years later, is in B&#x266d; (174); and the third, in C minor (406), an arrangement of the eight-part serenade for wind instruments (388), follows ten years later. Of those belonging to 1787 in C and G minor (515, 516), the latter full of passion and movement, is the ne plus ultra of its kind. The two last, in D and E&#x266d; (593, 614), were written in December 1790 and April 1791, 'at the urgent request of an amateur,' whose object evidently was to give assistance in a delicate manner to the hard-pressed composer; both show the clearness and firmness of the master-hand, although the end was so near. Three other Quintets must be included in this series; one in E&#x266d; (407) composed in 1787 for Leitgeb the horn-player, with only one violin, and a French horn or cello; another in A (581), the charming 'Stadler quintet,' for clarinet, two violins, viola, and cello, completed Sept. 29, 1789; and a third in C minor (617) for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola, and cello, composed in May 1791 for Kirchgassner. The accompanying instruments are obviously selected with a view to the special timbre of the solo, an effect which is lost by substituting the piano.

We have already seen that at the time he was working hard at the violin, Mozart composed six Concertos for it—207, 211, 216, 218, 219 in 1775, and 268 in 1776. They consist of three movements each, the first being generally the most worked-out, the second in the style of a romance (the adagio in 216 is of larger proportions), and the third in rondo-form. Previous to these came a concertone (190) for two solo violins, and orchestra, with obligato parts for cello and oboe, interesting from the artistic manner in which the various instruments are grouped. Quite different again is a 'Concertante Symphonie' for violin and viola (364) written in 1780. The solo-parts are treated simply, seldom moving