15. Quintet In B Minor

for Woodwind Quintet-These two extraordinary works of late Mozart KV 594 and KV 608 were both composed to fulfill a commission for a memorial exhibit in Vienna to be played in a “mechanical clock organ.” The term “fantasy” or“fantasia” came to be affixed to these works later and is more descriptive and less cumbersome than the term Mozart listed in his own catalogue “Ein Stüke für ein Orgelwerk in ein Uhr.” They are also variouslytitled “Adagio und Allegro in f für ein Orgelwerk” and “Allegro und Andante (Fantasie in f) für eine Orgelwaltze.”The first of these composed between the monumental String Quintet in D and the Piano Concertoin Bb KV 595 is an A-B-A form comprised of an f minor Adagio opening and closing with a contrapuntal Allegro at its heart. KV 608 is more complicated opening with an f minor section reminiscent of a French Overture followed by a fugue in fminor then an Andante aria followed by a return to the opening and then a more complex version of the fugue.Despite the frustration that Mozart expressed (in a letter to Constanze) with the sound world of these mechanical devices KV 594and 608 are remarkable works which stand at an intersection incorporating what he learned about counterpoint studying at the foot of Bach while looking ahead to the emotional and harmonic poignancy of Schubert.

Mozart has written a total of six quintets for 2 Violins 2 Violas and Cello and here are 3 of them in authoritative Urtext format: String Quintet in C K.515 String Quintet in G minor K.516 and String Quintet in C minor K.406(516b). Score available on HN9778.