MUSIC for Chief Joseph

String Quartets Book III op. 17-The autograph score of the Quartets op. 17 was in the possession of the imperial police chief Johann Nepomuk Neuwirth whose widow gave it to the Wiener Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in 1875. It is said that Haydn ?used to playthe viola in quartet rehearsals? at the Neuwirth?s house. Whether the Quartets op. 17 were composed for these gatherings can no longer be ascertained. However even today they still have a fixed place amongst the music of allchamber music friends and in particular nos. 4 5 and 6 which are very different to the divertimento style of the early quartets are played again and again.

Serenade in Eb major K. 375-Late in the evening on his name day in 1781 Mozart was on his way to bed when he suddenly heard familiar sounds coming from outside: the six musicians who had given the première of his Serenade in E-flatMajor two weeks beforehand and whom he had described as ?poor fellows but who can blow together quite nicely? had now met in the courtyard and were serenading him with his own work. Although it was officially composedfor Therese Hickel in actual fact Mozart mainly wanted to impress Emperor Joseph II whose chief of the royal chamber music often went to Therese?s house ?That?s the reason why I also put a little effort into it?. Didit really help? At any rate Mozart was appointed imperial chamber composer by Joseph II a few years later.