This week I thought I would listen to a new piece (i.e., new to me) by one of the big names in classical music, and I picked Mozart at random. I ran a list of works by Mozart, and also at random I picked the Piano Quartet in G Minor. Mozart wrote two piano quartets – one in G Minor and one in E Flat Major – and according to an article at Classical Net, HERE, “Mozart seems to have invented the piano quartet. No one has found examples among his contemporaries or immediate predecessors, not even in Haydn, a prolific inventor of new instrumental combinations. Mozart left only these two examples, but they count among the very best.” I listened to the G Minor Quartet several times this week, and at this point, I’m beginning to think that I have, in fact, heard this work before – I just didn’t recognize the title “Piano Quartet in G Minor” (or Piano Quartet No. 1”) as one I had previously heard. It’s the third movement that sounded most familiar to me. Sooo – have I heard it before? Or did I just listen to it enough times this week to begin thinking that maybe I have heard it before? Who knows. Anyway, the work is a very enjoyable piece – and one that I think would be very fun to play – and it is most certainly one that is typical of Mozart’s style and sound. The quartet is very structured and balanced, and it is light, airy, and energetic. The first movement centers on a somewhat stern six-note theme that opens the work: Mozart then develops the opening movement with numerous variations on that theme.
The second movement – though not necessarily one of the most beautiful melodies ever written by Mozart – is beautiful nonetheless. The third and final movement, a Rondo in G Major, is bright and spirited. It is free of the “sturm and drang” (HERE) that was so pervasive in the opening movement. I’ll admit, when I hum songs to myself, various parts of Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” are some of my frequent “go to” tunes that I hum. While I did enjoy Mozart’s first piano quartet. I don’t think I’ll be humming the melodies from this one all that often. : )
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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