play pause radio-play skip-back skip-forward playing search copy check embed close plus caret-down caret-left caret-right caret-up chevron-down chevron-left chevron-right chevron-up arrow-left arrow-right open-in-new-tab filter menu more-horizontal more-vertical share share-android select star star-block volume-block volume-mute-block volume-mute volume lock settings recording composition devices laptop speaker
Log inCreate account

Mozart: The Last String Quartets No. 20, 21, 22, 23 on Period Instruments

7/5/2009, 16 Tracks, 2:05:46

Featuring

  • István Kertész
  • Erika Petőfi
  • Péter Ligeti
  • Rezső Pertorini
  • Festetics String Quartet
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Did you know?

1/7

Composition History

Mozart's financial difficulties and illness, along with his wife Constanze's, forced him to sell his 'exhausting labor' (the quartets) for 'a mere song' to get cash.

Source: Booklet

Composition History

The D major Quartet, K 499, is a 'real enigma' because scholars are unsure for whom or why Mozart wrote it in 1786, amidst his busy compositional activity.

Source: Booklet

Recording & Production

This album features recordings made in Budapest at the Library of Techniques in June 1993 and in Vienna at the Zögernitz Casino in April 1992.

Source: Booklet

Composer Biography

Mozart met King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, a good cellist, in Potsdam in April 1789 and intended to compose six quartets for him, hoping for financial gain.

Source: Booklet

Compositional Technique

Mozart often 'recycled' old musical fragments and sketches, sometimes years later, when seeking material for new compositions.

Source: Booklet

Composition History

Mozart considered the composition of string quartets, including the 'Haydn' and 'Prussian' sets, to be 'long and laborious toil' or 'exhausting labor'.

Source: Booklet

Instruments

The Quatuor Festetics performs on period instruments, including a Matthias Thier violin from Vienna (1770), a Matthias Albanus viola from Bolzano (1651), and an 18th-century Milanese school violin.

Source: Booklet

You might also enjoy...

Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 14 & 23
Mozart: String Quartets K. 575 & K. 590 "Prussia I & III" (On Period Instruments)
Mozart: The Last String Quartets
Mozart: String Quartets K. 499 "Hoffmeister" & K. 589 "Prussia II" (On Period Instruments)
Haydn: The 7 Last Words of Jesus Christ, Op. 51 & String Quartet No. 68 in D Minor, Op. 103
Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 33 No. 3 "The Bird" - Hoffstetter: String Quartet, Op. 3 No. 5 "Serenade"
Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 21 & 22
Streichquartette
Mozart : String Quartets Nos 21 & 22
Mozart: The Last String Quartets
Haydn: String Quartets Op. 20 No. 4 & Op. 74 No. 3 "The Horseman"
Haydn: String Quartets "All shall not die"
Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 71/3 & 74/1 (On Period Instruments)
©℗ 2000 Arcana