String Quintet No. 1 (Mozart)

String Quintet
No. 1
by W. A. Mozart
1773 miniature of Mozart
KeyC minor
CatalogueK. 174
Composed1773 (1773)
Movements4
Scoring
  • 2 violins
  • 2 violas
  • doube bass

The String Quintet No. 1 in B♭ major, K. 174, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in December 1773. Unlike Mozart's other viola quintets, which are scored for two violins, two violas and cello, this early work is scored for two violins, two violas and basso. It is inspired by Michael Haydn viola quintets in C major (MH 187) and G major (MH 189), written earlier in the same year.[1]

Mozart composed this quintet a few months following the composition of the Viennese Quartets, K. 168–173 – indeed this work immediately follows that set in the first edition of the Köchel catalogue.

Movements

The work is in standard four movement form:

  1. Allegro moderato cut time
  2. Adagio common time in E♭ major
  3. Menuetto ma allegro[a] 3
    4
    in B♭ major, Trio in F major
  4. Allegro 2
    4
  1. ↑ or 'allegretto'

References

  1. ↑ Rosen, Charles (1971). "2. String Quintet". The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven. London: Faber and Faber. pp. 264–265. ISBN 0-571-04905-2 – via Internet Archive.