Leipziger Streichquartett . Hartmut Rohde

It is not known whether Mozart wrote his Fourth String Quintet before or after the masterpieces KV515 and KV516. It was not published until after his death in 1792 and was then given the number four. This extremely compact and concentrated work is really a transcription of a Serenade for eight wind instruments, KV388, originally composed in 1782, though nothing would lead the listener to suspect this. The two last quintets were written in quick succession at the end of 1790 and the beginning of 1791. Although they probably resulted from the same commission, the two quintets are quite dissimilar. The Fifth has an exceptional polyphonic tension, whereas the Sixth is simple and, on the face of it, almost popular. 1790 had been a black year for Mozart: weighed down by poverty, illness and loneliness, he had written almost nothing for a whole year. The Fifth Quintet was the start of his last, extremely creative period. It is almost modern in the manner of Beethoven, with elements that seem to prefigure Beethoven's Missa Solemnis or late string quartets. Mozart wrote the Sixth Quintet while he was working on his Magic Flute. It is cheerful, sunny, and light-hearted: the Mozart that many love the most.