Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Late String Quartets Nos. 14-23

Featuring

Joseph Roisman
Jac Gorodetzky
Boris Kroyt
Mischa Schneider
Alexander (Sasha) Schneider
Budapest String Quartet

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Recording & Production

The Budapest String Quartet recorded these works in the Coolidge Auditorium at The Library of Congress, Washington DC, using Stradivari instruments from the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Collection.

Composition History

The String Quartet No. 20 in D major, K.499, is known as the "Hoffmeister" Quartet, named after Franz Anton Hoffmeister, a publisher who may have commissioned it.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Joseph Haydn admired Mozart's works, describing them as "inimitable," "profound," "musically intelligent," and "extraordinarily sensitive."

Cultural Impact

The Budapest String Quartet significantly influenced chamber music in the United States, raising audience numbers and setting a high standard for later players.

Composition History

Mozart dedicated his six "Haydn" Quartets to Joseph Haydn, referring to them as his "sons" and the fruit of "long and laborious effort."

Composition History

Mozart referred to the composition of his "Prussian" Quartets, commissioned by King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, as a "troublesome task."

Performer Biography

The Budapest String Quartet, formed in 1917, originally consisted of three Hungarians and a Dutchman, but by the end, it was composed of four Russians.