Life of Mozart

i6Mozart's instrumental music.that this was a time of bitter care and poverty, which madeit a painful effort to work at the quartets, but there is evenless trace of effort in them than in the earlier ones. Theinstrument appropriated to his royal patron is brought to thefront, and made into a solo instrument, giving out the melodiesin its higher notes. This obliges the viola frequently totake the bass part, altering the whole tone-colouring of thepiece, and the instruments are altogether set higher thanusual, the more so as the first violin constantly alternates withthe violoncello. By this means the tone of the whole becomesmore brilliant and brighter, but atones for this in an occasionalloss of vigour and force. In other respects also, outof deference no doubt to the King's taste, there is more stresslaid upon elegance and clearness than upon depth andwarmth of tone. Mozart was too much of an artist to allowany solo part in a quartet to predominate unduly over theothers; the first violin and violoncello leave the other twoinstruments their independent power of expression, but themotifs and working-out portions are less important, and hereand there they run into a fanciful play of passages. It issingular that in the quartets in D and F major the last movementsare the most important. When once the composerhas thrown himself into the elaboration of his trifling motifshe grows warm, and, setting to work in good earnest, the soloinstrument is made to fall into rank and file; the artist appears,and has no more thought of his presentation at court.The middle movements are very fine as to form and effect,but are without any great depth of feeling. The charmingallegro of the second quartet, in F major, is easy and gracefulin tone, and interesting from the elegance of its elaboration.In short, these quartets completely maintain Mozart's reputationfor inventive powers, sense of proportion, and masteryof form, but they lack that absolute devotion to the highestideal of art characteristic of the earlier ones.Mozart's partiality for quartet-writing may be inferredfrom the many sketches which remain (68-75, Anh., K.),considerable length, such as that fragmentsome of them ofof a lively movement in A major (68, 72, Anh., K.) consistingof i6g bars.