Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - String Quartet No. 19 “Dissonance“, K. 465 [With score]

-Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) -Performers: Quatuor Mosaïques String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465, written in 1785 [Haydn Quartet VI] 00:06 - I. Adagio - Allegro 14:08 - II. Andante cantabile 22:18 - III. Menuetto. Allegro 28:36 - IV. Allegro molto The last of the six quartets Mozart dedicated to Haydn, K. 465 is officially in the sunny key of C major, but it owes its “Dissonant“ nickname to its slow, tense introduction, full of unresolved harmonies over a throbbing cello line. Soon enough, this disorienting Adagio gives way to the first movement’s bright, Allegro main matter. The first violin sings out the short-phrased principal theme, which the other instruments soon pick up in contrapuntal imitation. A second, more jittery melody and a third in triplets all become fodder for a brief development section, although it’s the first theme, now with a minor cast, that dominates the proceedings until the recapitulation soothes the troubled quartet -- the exposition returning, of course, without the baggage of the “dissonant“ introduction. The second movement, Andante cantabile, wraps itself in warm F major, with all four instruments exploring a variety of highly lyrical thematic passages. Third comes a witty, Haydn-esque Minuet (and one that would influence Beethoven), full of sudden dynamic contrasts and pitting various combinations of instruments against each other. The brief Trio section dips into C minor for an episode of agitated pathos. As it begins, the finale (Allegro) has every indication of being a conventional if quick rondo, but the music continually veers into unexpected harmonic territory, skidding into the minor and fragmenting the themes; this is perhaps a sonata-allegro movement, with the development section split among the episodes of a rondo. Performers may play this as either comedy or drama, but the music is really a bold melding of the two. []