Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartets No. 15, K. 421, No. 17, K. 458 "The Hunt" & No. 19, K. 465 "Dissonance"
10/1/2007, 12 Tracks, 1:20:16
Featuring
Václav Remeš
Vlastimil Holek
Josef Klusoň
Michal Kaňka
Pražák Quartet
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Did you know?
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Performer Biography
The Pražák Quartet, like many Bohemian ensembles, was founded by its members while they were students at the Prague Conservatory (1974-78).
Compositional Technique
Haydn's 'Russian' Quartets (Op. 33), which influenced Mozart, introduced a "wholly new and unusual style" by distributing sound intensity equally among the four instruments in an obbligato style.
Compositional Technique
Mozart's String Quartet No. 19 in C, K. 465, known as the 'Dissonant' Quartet, begins with a slow introduction whose bold dissonances surprised his contemporaries.
Composition History
Mozart's six 'Haydn' Quartets, written between 1783 and 1785, were acknowledged by him as the "fruit of long, painful work," despite his usual ease and rapidity in composing.
Critical Reception
The chromaticism and dramatic nature of Mozart's Quartet in D minor, K. 421, led to some incomprehension upon its publication, with one Italian composer, Giuseppe Sarti, criticizing its "false system."
Composer Biography
The Quartet in D minor, K. 421, was likely composed on June 17, 1783, the day Mozart's wife, Constanze, gave birth for the first time.
Performer Biography
The Pražák Quartet has gained recognition for its specialization in the works of the Second Viennese School composers, such as Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, alongside the First Viennese School.
