# Mozart's Best Chamber Works



## Sol Invictus

What are your favorite chamber pieces from Mozart? I elect Serenade No. 10 in B flat Major; from what I can tell most go for the 3rd movement but the Rondo is what does it for me.


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## trazom

Well, he's my favorite composer of chamber music and since he was writing masterpieces in nearly every genre during his last 10 years, it's really hard for me to narrow them down. I'll try to list what I consider his best(or at least my favorites) by group and I'm excluding serenades because that will make this list way too long:

-The 2 Duos for Violin and Viola in G major K.423 and B flat major k.424
-Duo for Bassoon and Cello K.292

-Piano Quartet in G minor, K.478
-Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K.493

-String Trio "Divertimento," K.563

-Oboe Quartet in F, k.370
-Adagio and Fugue for Strings in C minor, K.546
-Quintet for Piano and Winds, K.452
-Clarinet Quintet, K.581
-Horn Quintet, K.407
-Viola Quintets(the last four: K.515, K.516, K.596, and K.614)

-String quartets(his last 10 quartets: The six dedicated to Haydn, the Hoffmeister, and the three Prussian quartets)

-Trio for piano, viola, and clarinet "Kegelstatt," K.498
-Piano Trios(all 6 are good but my favorites are K.496 in G, 502 in B flat, and 542 in E major)

-The violin sonatas. This is probably the hardest for me because there's so much good music here. The first "mature" effort is considered k.296 and from there on they range from "good" or "enjoyable" to masterpiece. I guess the ones I regularly listen to might be k.376-380,454,481, and 526. Oh, almost forgot the haunting and unique E-minor violin sonata K.304 he wrote in Paris. 

I'm sure there are other works I may have forgotten, but with Mozart a lot of his greatest works were one-offs, composed for unique occasions and don't readily fit with other chamber music categories so it's difficult to remember all of them.


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## Bulldog

The Clarinet Quintet and the Quintet for Piano and Winds are my favorite Mozart chamber works. To be honest, I don't find his chamber works as rewarding as his solo piano music, concertos, symphonies, choral works or operas. I do love string quartets, but when I'm in the mood for that genre I usually play some Haydn.


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## Olias

There is a lot to choose from but my personal choices for "best" or "favorite" would be:

Quintet for Piano and Winds, K.452

Clarinet Quintet, K.581

(both of which sound so much more satisfying if performed on period instruments).


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet

String quintets K515 and K516 as well as Clarinet quintet. Also, his last string quartets.


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## Pugg

Grand Partita, String quintets, String quartets and Clarinet quintet to start with.


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## Heck148

Olias said:


> There is a lot to choose from but my personal choices for "best" or "favorite" would be:
> 
> Quintet for Piano and Winds, K.452


definitely. great piece.


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## Vaneyes

Clarinet Quintet; String Quintets, K.593, K.614; Piano Quartets; String Quartets, K. 464, K. 465; String Trios; Violin Sonatas.


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## pcnog11

Do you consider Eine kleine Nachtmusik as a chamber works? I have a recording performed by the Salzburg Quartet, amazingly pure, clean and wonderfully performed. That is one of my favorite. 

Gran Partita, Haydn quartets and clarinet quintet and flute quintets are great pieces that rounds up the top 5.


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## jegreenwood

Olias said:


> There is a lot to choose from but my personal choices for "best" or "favorite" would be:
> 
> Quintet for Piano and Winds, K.452
> 
> Clarinet Quintet, K.581
> 
> (both of which sound so much more satisfying if performed on period instruments).


+1 And the Kegelstatt Trio. (Guess what instrument I play. )


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## elgar's ghost

Many of Mozart's chamber works from the 'Haydn' quartets period onwards butter my parsnips but the Divertimento in E-flat for string trio is particularly rewarding - the term 'Divertimento' in this case wrongly gives the impression of it being occasional music and I think it can easily stand alongside the other great chamber works of his.


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## trazom

pcnog11 said:


> Gran Partita, Haydn quartets and clarinet quintet and flute quintets are great pieces that rounds up the top 5.


Mozart didn't write any flute quintets, though Kraus wrote a pretty excellent work in this area. I think Mozart composed around four flute quartets, though. They're somewhat lighter in tone compared to his more "serious" works but they're not less in terms of craftsmanship by any means. Your post made me realize I was correct when I said I forgot to list a few chamber works earlier in the thread. There's just so much great music he wrote it's a little overwhelming.


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## Bruckner Anton

Generally speaking, the string quintets are the peak of his chamber works. Mozart entered a mature phase of composing in 1780s when he moved to Vienna. A lot of masterpieces were produced, including his two piano quartets, clarinet quintet, quintet for woodwinds and piano, haydn quartets and string trio.


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## pcnog11

trazom said:


> Mozart didn't write any flute quintets, though Kraus wrote a pretty excellent work in this area. I think Mozart composed around four flute quartets, though. They're somewhat lighter in tone compared to his more "serious" works but they're not less in terms of craftsmanship by any means. Your post made me realize I was correct when I said I forgot to list a few chamber works earlier in the thread. There's just so much great music he wrote it's a little overwhelming.


Flute quartets is what I mean. Yes, Mozart's was overwhelming to begin with. Such a short life, but such an impact to all of us!


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## hpowders

Clarinet Quintet in A Major

String Quintet in G Minor

String Quintet in C Major

Piano Quartet in G minor

Piano Quartet in E Flat Major


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## Pugg

jegreenwood said:


> +1 And the Kegelstatt Trio. (Guess what instrument I play. )


I do add+ 1 on this piece.


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## PeterF

Clarinet Quintet
2 Piano Quartets
Piano Quintet
6 String Quintets
Last 10 String Quartets


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## Pugg

PeterF said:


> Clarinet Quintet
> 2 Piano Quartets
> Piano Quintet
> 6 String Quintets
> Last 10 String Quartets


Man of taste . :tiphat:


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## Sonata

-String quintets
-Violin sonatas
-Piano Quartets
-Clarinet chamber music


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## HaraldWeiss

Quintet in G min K.516 Nice to see I'm not the only one to mention it. It may be silly, but I find the way it soothly transitions between major and minor modes to be an allegory for Mozart's life and human existence in general: sorrow and joy mixed in measure, but always beauty if we look for it.


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## Pugg

HaraldWeiss said:


> Quintet in G min K.516 Nice to see I'm not the only one to mention it. It may be silly, but I find the way it soothly transitions between major and minor modes to be an allegory for Mozart's life and human existence in general: sorrow and joy mixed in measure, but always beauty if we look for it.


Just like real life.


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## Quartetfore

I heard it "live" (for the first time) a few weeks ago---very enjoyable!


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## znapschatz

pcnog11 said:


> Do you consider Eine kleine Nachtmusik as a chamber works? I have a recording performed by the Salzburg Quartet, amazingly pure, clean and wonderfully performed. That is one of my favorite.
> 
> Gran Partita, Haydn quartets and clarinet quintet and flute quintets are great pieces that rounds up the top 5.


My relationship to the Mozart piece is through a whistling "string" quartet some friends and I formed during my late teens. We called ourselves "I Soflici" under the mistaken impression it meant "The Whistlers" in Italian. There were only two pieces in our repertoire; "Eine kleine Nachtmusik," first and second movements, and the Benjamin Britten "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" finale. First chair "violin" was performed (blown?) by Danny (in another context Prince Andrei Bolkonski) because he couldn't read music, so he did the melody lines; I (Count Pierre Bezhukov) was second chair because as a clarinet player, I could read the part; Bruce, who played Cello in real life and was founder and conductor of the group, did either Viola or Cello, and a rotating core of 4 others plugged in, depending on who showed up for rehearsals. We only had one performance, that at a soirée at someone's home, in which we did a somewhat creditable job (to be charitable) with Nachtmusik, but not long into the Britten, collapsed into a laughing fit that we couldn't shake. To this day I can't think of either piece without getting the giggles. I offer my most sincere apologies to pcnog11 for the irreverence.


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## quietfire

I only like the string quartets.


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## Ekim the Insubordinate

Divertimento in E flat major, K. 563

Wonderful stuff! Also, I love the string quintets.


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## Animal the Drummer

So many to choose from, but put a gun to my head and I'd say the Clarinet Quintet.


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## Pugg

quietfire said:


> I only like the string quartets.


Try the string trios, fabulous.


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## znapschatz

Animal the Drummer said:


> So many to choose from, but *put a gun to my head and I'd say the Clarinet Quintet*.


We have ways of making you choose :devil:.


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## Guest

My 10 best:
'Gran Patita' Serenade, K361
'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik', K525
'Stadler' Clarinet Quintet, K581
Quintet for Piano and Winds, K452
Piano Quartet in E flat, K493
Piano Quartet in g minor, K478
String Quintet in C, K515
'Dissonant' String Quartet, K465
String Trio Divertimento, K563
'Kegelstaat' Clarinet Trio, K498


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## Brahmsian Colors

Favorites:

Piano Trios 1 through 6
String Quartets No.14 ("Spring") K.387, No.20 K.499 ("Hoffmeister") and "Prussian": No.21 K.575, No.22 K.589, No.23 K.590
Piano Quartet K.493
Quintet For Piano and Winds K.452
Clarinet Quintet K.581
String Quintets 1 through 6


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## Pugg

Haydn67 said:


> Favorites:
> 
> Piano Trios 1 through 6
> String Quartets No.14 ("Spring") K.387, No.20 K.499 ("Hoffmeister") and "Prussian": No.21 K.575, No.22 K.589, No.23 K.590
> Piano Quartet K.493
> Quintet For Piano and Winds K.452
> Clarinet Quintet K.581
> String Quintets 1 through 6


I saw that one in another thread.....


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## Brahmsian Colors

Pugg said:


> I saw that one in another thread.....


Probably the one where I compared my Mozart vs. Haydn favorite string quartets and mentioned a peference for the latter over the former, though I certainly do enjoy them both.


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## fluteman

trazom said:


> Well, he's my favorite composer of chamber music and since he was writing masterpieces in nearly every genre during his last 10 years, it's really hard for me to narrow them down. I'll try to list what I consider his best(or at least my favorites) by group and I'm excluding serenades because that will make this list way too long:
> 
> -The 2 Duos for Violin and Viola in G major K.423 and B flat major k.424
> -Duo for Bassoon and Cello K.292
> 
> -Piano Quartet in G minor, K.478
> -Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K.493
> 
> -String Trio "Divertimento," K.563
> 
> -Oboe Quartet in F, k.370
> -Adagio and Fugue for Strings in C minor, K.546
> -Quintet for Piano and Winds, K.452
> -Clarinet Quintet, K.581
> -Horn Quintet, K.407
> -Viola Quintets(the last four: K.515, K.516, K.596, and K.614)
> 
> -String quartets(his last 10 quartets: The six dedicated to Haydn, the Hoffmeister, and the three Prussian quartets)
> 
> -Trio for piano, viola, and clarinet "Kegelstatt," K.498
> -Piano Trios(all 6 are good but my favorites are K.496 in G, 502 in B flat, and 542 in E major)
> 
> -The violin sonatas. This is probably the hardest for me because there's so much good music here. The first "mature" effort is considered k.296 and from there on they range from "good" or "enjoyable" to masterpiece. I guess the ones I regularly listen to might be k.376-380,454,481, and 526. Oh, almost forgot the haunting and unique E-minor violin sonata K.304 he wrote in Paris.
> 
> I'm sure there are other works I may have forgotten, but with Mozart a lot of his greatest works were one-offs, composed for unique occasions and don't readily fit with other chamber music categories so it's difficult to remember all of them.


Well, Trazom, that pretty well covers it! You do a great job of listing all of Mozart's best chamber music. I'd give special honors to the string quartet no. 19 (the "Dissonant"), which is one of the six dedicated to Haydn; the E-flat trio or "Divertimento" K. 563; the G-minor viola quintet K. 516; and the clarinet quintet K. 581. The flute quartets do not quite reach the heights of those you list (alas!) but the best one by far is the D-major K. 285. I'm especially impressed you remembered to mention the K. 304 sonata. There's a great recording by Arthur Grumiaux and Clara Haskil.


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## Woodduck

The string quintets.


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## Pugg

​
If O.P doesn't like this disc....lost.


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## Andolink

The *String Quartet No. 23 in F major KV 590* is my favorite Mozart chamber music and the Andante 3rd movement is possibly my favorite of thing in all of Mozart's music.


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## Selby

If anyone wants to add their favorite recordings into this thread I would be very grateful.


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## mtmailey

piano quartets,string quintets,piano trios,string duos clarinet quintet,piano sonata 11 & flute quartets i like you know.


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## Star

Has to be clarinet quintet.


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