- Piano Quartet No. 2 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 's Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, K. 493, was written afterFranz Anton Hoffmeister released Mozart from the obligation of writing three piano quartets.The work is in three movements:
*I. Allegro
*II. Larghetto
*III. Allegretto
Composition and reception
Mozart received a commission for three quartets in 1785 from the publisher
Franz Anton Hoffmeister . Hoffmeister thought the G minor Quartet (K. 478) was too difficult and that the public would not buy it, so he released Mozart from the obligation of completing the set. Nine months later, Mozart composed this quartet anyway. [Melvin Berger, "Guide to Chamber Music", 2001, Dover. p. 300] .Editions and versions
The C. F. Peters Edition set of parts has
rehearsal letter s throughout the whole work; the Eulenburg Edition study score has measure numbers but no rehearsal letters, the same goes for Bärenreiter.Discography
Before CDs, almost all repeats were ignored to bring the whole piece at about 24 minutes in duration, thus allowing it to fit on one side of a phonograph record; the other side could then have the K. 478 at about 22 minutes (with repeats also ignored). Now with CDs, obeying all repeats brings the piece to about 36 minutes.
Alfred Brendel has recorded this work with members of theAlban Berg Quartet (without second violinistGerhard Schulz ); the Angel Records disc includes Brendel and the quartet playing the Piano Concerto in A major, K. 414.However, it is far more common to pair this Quartet with the K. 478 Quartet; to give two examples: the Hyperion CD with Paul Lewis and the Leopold String Trio, and the Naxos recording by the Menuhin Festival Piano Quartet. The CBS Masterworks recording with Yo-Yo Ma, Jaime Laredo, Isaac Stern and Emanuel Ax, in addition to the two Quartets, also includes the
Kegelstatt Trio , K. 498.Notes
References
*cite book|last=Deutsch|first=Otto Erich|date=1965|title=Mozart: A Documentary Biography|location=Stanford|publisher=Stanford University Press|oclc =8991008
*cite book|last=Solomon|first=Maynard|date=1995|location=New York|publisher=Harper Collins Publishers|title=Mozart: a life|isbn=0-06-019046-9
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OR3eCAX8BikC&printsec=frontcover&dq=solomon+maynard+mozart&ei=zJQ4R4z_DoTqiQGR8oiBAg&sig=RSEiFAZY2nNxaocRIVCaHv3o1QQExternal links
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*NMA|183|53|184|21|Quartett in Es für Klavier, Violine, Viola und Violoncello
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