String Quartet No. 21 (Mozart)

The String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575, was written in June 1789 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It has acquired the nickname The Violet. It is the first of the Prussian Quartets.

There are four movements:

  1. Allegretto, in D major
  2. Andante
  3. Menuetto: Allegretto
  4. Allegretto in D major

The quartet was written for and dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, an amateur cellist, and was written in a similar style to the quartets of Joseph Haydn. Mozart and his friend Karl Lichnowsky met the king in Potsdam in April 1789. Mozart played before the king in Berlin on 26 May 1789, then returned to Vienna.[1]

This string quartet is a popular piece in the repertoire today. It is a piece written at the zenith of Mozart's powers as a chamber music composer. It is considered to be in a more relaxed style than the six quartets dedicated to Haydn, this quartet features appealing melodies and the most rewarding and challenging music for the cello. A typical performance lasts around 24 minutes.

References

  1. ^ The New Grove Mozart ISBN 0333341996 page 154

External links

K. 80/73f
Milanese Quartets

No. 2 in D major, K. 155/134a · No. 3 in G major, K. 156/143b · No. 4 in C major, K. 157 · No. 5 in F major, K. 158 · No. 6 in B flat major, K. 159 · No. 7 in E flat major, K. 160/159a
Viennese Quartets

No. 8 in F major, K. 168 · No. 9 in A major, K. 169 · No. 10 in C major, K. 170 · No. 11 in E flat major, K. 171 · No. 12 in B flat major, K. 172 · No. 13 in D minor, K. 173
Haydn Quartets
K. 499
Prussian Quartets

No. 21 in D major, K. 575 · No. 22 in B flat major, K. 589 · No. 23 in F major, K. 590