Page 161 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

Second Movement (Andante)
After the feverish excitement of the opening movement, the slow, lyrical Andante comes as a welcome change of pace. What makes this movement exceptionally beautiful is the extraordinary interplay between the light and dark colors of the woodwinds against the constant tone of the strings. If there is no thematic con- trast and confrontation here, there is nonetheless heartfelt expression brought about by Mozart’s masterful use of orchestral color.
Third Movement (Menuetto: Allegretto)
We expect the aristocratic minuet to provide elegant, graceful dance music (see Figure 8.2). But much to our surprise, Mozart returns to the intense, somber mood of the opening movement. This he does, in part, by choosing to write in the tonic minor key—a rare minuet in minor. This again demonstrates how the minuet had changed from “dance music” to “listening music.”
Fourth Movement (Allegro Assai)
The finale (last movement) starts with an ascending “rocket” that explodes in a rapid, forte flourish—and only carefully rehearsed string playing can pull off this orchestral special effect. The contrasting second theme of this sonata–allegro form movement is typically Mozartean in its grace and charm, a proper foil to the explosive opening melody. Midway through the development, musical com- pression takes hold: There is no retransition, only a pregnant pause before the recapitulation; the return dispenses with the repeats built into the first theme; and a coda is omitted. This musical foreshortening at the end produces the same psychological effect experienced at the very beginning of the symphony—a feel- ing of urgency and acceleration.
The String Quartet
The symphony is the ideal genre for the public concert hall,
for it aims to please a large listening public by employing a
large musical ensemble. The string quartet, on the other
hand, typifies chamber music—music for the small concert
hall, for the private chamber, or just for the enjoyment of the
performers themselves (Figure 9.3). Like the symphony, the
string quartet normally has four movements, all unified by a
common key. But unlike the symphony, which might have a
dozen violinists joining on the first violin line, the string quartet features only one player per part: first violinist, second violinist, violist, and cellist. Such an intimate ensemble has no need for a conductor; all performers function equally and communicate directly among themselves. No wonder the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) compared the string quartet to a con- versation among four rational people.
Joseph Haydn is rightly called “the father of the string quartet.” In the 1760s and 1770s, he began to compose music for four string instruments requiring a new, more
FiguRe 9.3
A representation of a string quartet at the end of the eighteenth century. The string quartet was at first an ensemble for playing chamber music in the home. Not until 1804 did a string quartet appear in a public concert in Vienna, and not until 1814 in Paris.
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The Art Archive/Gianni Dagli Orti
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