Life of Mozart

;SIX QUARTETS, I785. I3They are cast in a nobler mould, their distinguishing characteristicsbeing grace and delicacy, and they are equallycapable of expressing merry drollery and strong, evenpainful, emotion. Haydn's minuets are the product of alaughter-loving national life, Mozart's give the tone of goodsociety. Especially v\^ell-defined in character are the minuetsof the D minor and C major quartets—the former bold anddefiant, the latter fresh and vigorous. Delicate detail inthe disposition of the parts is common to almost all of them,keeping the interest tense and high, and there are somestriking peculiarities of rhythmical construction. Amongsuch we may notice the juxtaposition of groups of eight andten bars, so that two bars are either played prematurely, asin the minuet of the first quartet, or inserted, as in the trioof the B flat major quartet. ^^ The ten-bar group in theminuet of the D minor quartet is more complicated, becausemore intimately blended, and still more so is the rhythm ofthe minuet in the fourth quartet, where the detached unequalgroups are curiously interlaced. Very -^^ characteristic is alsothe sharp contrast between minuet and trio—as, for instance,the almost harshly passionate minor trios of the first and lastquartets, and the still more striking major trio of the D minorquartet, light and glittering, like a smile in the midst of tears.The finales have more meaning and emphasis than hashitherto been the case in Mozart's instrumental compositions.Three of them are in rondo form (those of theB flat, E flat, and C major quartet), quick, easy-flowingmovements, rich in graceful motifs and interesting featuresin the working-out. The merriment in them is tempered bya deeper vein of humour, and we are sonietimes startled by adisplay of pathos, as in the finale of the C major quartet.The more cheerful passages are distinctly German in toneand echoes of the " Zauberflöte " may be heard in many ofthe melodies and turns of expression.'8 Two bars are added as an extension of the conclusion as in the minuet ofthe Quintet in C major (515 K.).1^ There are groups of seven bars in the minuet of the later Quartet in Fmajor (590 K.), and of five bars in the trio.