# Which are your favorite Mozart string quartets?



## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Now that the poll system suddenly became awesome, with the maximum number of choices increased to 25 and many interesting options, this can be done properly.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Shouldn't there be some restriction, so one cannot choose all 21?


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Kreisler jr said:


> Shouldn't there be some restriction, so one cannot choose all 21?


Yes, yes, there is a restriction. There's an option to allow a maximum of choices per member in the new poll system. I'm using it for the first time, and marked five as the max. I just tested it, and it's working.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

No. 20, "Hoffmeister", by a considerable margin over the others.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

My favorite is K 387 but I like all of the last 10 a lot (and admittedly it's a long time I heard any of the first 11). A great favorite used to be K 499 although for some reason I wasn't that fond of it the last time I listened to it. I also included the last one which is the greatest of the last 3 as charming as especially K 575 (maybe the most lyrical of all) is. To get to 5 I then voted for the "nameless underdogs" in the Haydn set, K 428 and 464 but these are not strong preferences.


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Definitely the Hunt and then the four last ones (though I'd choose the quintets any time)
I never cared for the Dissonance, apart from the introduction (which is hardly shocking) it's Mozart at his blandest.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I listened to K80 a few weeks ago, it’s very good. Real ear worms.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

My picks were hardly controversial but I enjoy all of Mozart's SQs anyway. I must admit I play them far less frequently than Haydn, etc. I played the Hunt the other day for the first time in ages and thoroughly enjoyed it (from an old Melos disc I've had years - I can't remember the last time I played that one). Mozart's quartets are not among my very favourite SQs but I do really like them and especially enjoy hearing them after a good break from them.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

Mozart's String Quartets nos. 14-23 aren't called his "Ten Great String Quartets" for nothing. Although nowadays I get the impression that these quartets aren't quite as highly esteemed or appreciated as they used to be. In which case, I'd say they are extremely underrated. For me, the 10 String Quartets are among Mozart's best chamber music, along with his 6 String Quintets & Piano Trios.

The following would be my five favorite quartets by Mozart, if I were pressed to pick at least one each from (1) the early quartets, (2) those "dedicated to Haydn", & (3) his 4 late quartets,

1. Among the early quartets,

--String Quartet No. 1 in G, K.80









Incredibly, Mozart composed the first three movements of his 1st quartet at only age 14 in 1770, and the 4th movement at 17 in 1773. The sentiment expressed in the opening movement almost sounds like it belongs in a film by Giuseppe Tornatore, as there is something Italian about it.

2. Among the 6 String Quartets "dedicated to Haydn".

--String Quartet No. 19 in C, K. 465 "Dissonance"

This is one of my favorite quartets by anyone, & I don't find it "bland" music in any way; at least, not when it is played by a first class ensemble, & especially when heard live in recital. However, the first violinist has to be a great violinist & musician in order to do full justice to the quartet (such as Abel Tomas, in Cuarteto Casals).

3. Among the 4 late quartets,

--String Quartet No. 21 in D, K. 575 "Prussian" No. 1
--String Quartet No. 22 in B flt, K. 589 "Prussian" No. 2
--String Quartet No. 23 in F, K. 590 "Prussian" No. 3

& if pressed to pick my top three favorites, I'd choose the following,

1. String Quartet No. 23 in F, K. 590 "Prussian" No. 3





2. String Quartet No. 19 in C, K. 465 "Dissonance",









3. String Quartet No. 22 in B flat, K. 589 "Prussian" No. 2,








Mozart: String Quartet No. 22 in B flat, K.589 "Prussian No. 2" - 1. Allegro


Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupMozart: String Quartet No. 22 in B flat, K.589 "Prussian No. 2" - 1. Allegro · Quartetto Italiano · Wolfgang Amad...




www.youtube.com





As for my favorite recordings of each, on modern instruments, I've most liked Quartetto Italiano in the three "Prussian Quartets", as they find more beauty & humanity in this music than most (just as they do in the slow movements of Beethoven's Late Quartets); as well as the Orlando (Philips), Alban Berg (Teldec), Chilingirian (CRD), & Melos Stuttgart (DG) quartets in all 4 late quartets:

Mozart, String Quartet in D major K.499: Allegretto
String Quartet in B flat major K.589: Allegro








Mozart: String Quartet No. 21 in D, K.575 "Prussian No. 1" - 1. Allegretto


Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupMozart: String Quartet No. 21 in D, K.575 "Prussian No. 1" - 1. Allegretto · Quartetto Italiano · Wolfgang Amadeu...




www.youtube.com




Mozart: String Quartet No. 22 in B flat, K.589 "Prussian No. 2" - 1. Allegro

While I've most liked Cuarteto Casals in the K. 80 quartet (along with the rest of the early quartets), and Cuarteto Casals and the Gewandhaus-Quartett in the 'Dissonance" (& other "Haydn" Quartets); as well as Quatour Van Kuijk for their more angular HIP performance. I've also liked the Chilingirian (CRD), Smetana (Denon/Supraphon, & EMI/Testament), Alban Berg (Teldec), and Melos Stuttgart (DG) quartets in all 6 "Haydn" Quartets; along with an individual CD release by a quartet whose Mozart playing the pianist Alfred Brendel highly praised as being among the best today, the Merel Quartet in KV 387 & KV421: String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K. 387*: I. Allegro vivace assai

Mozart, String Quartet No 14, Smetana Quartet
Mozart - String quartet K.428 - Smetana SQ 1975

Mozart: String Quartet No. 14, Spring | Gewandhaus Quartet

String Quartet in A K.464: Allegro

Mozart String Quartet No 18 K 464, Alban Berg Quartet 1978
Mozart String Quartet No 19, K 465, ''Dissonant'' Alban Berg Quartet, 1978

String Quartet No. 16 in E-Flat Major, K. 428: I. Allegro non troppo

On period instruments, I enjoy both Quatuor Mosaïques & the Festetics Quartet in the "Ten Great Quartets":

Quatuor Mosaïques "Mozart: The String Quartets Dedicated to Haydn"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - String Quartet No. 19 "Dissonance", K. 465 [With score]
W. A. Mozart - KV 590 - String Quartet No. 23 in F major


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I voted a few, I feel always like being in the movie Sophie Choice, who do you choose. 
They quartets are are all nice/ good


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## bagpipers (Jun 29, 2013)

If I was smarter or had a better memory I could tell you.I just out of so many can't remember offhand.Mozart and Haydn had so so many string quartets its hard to keep track.

I do love along with his early symphony's also his early quartets too.I have probably heard and enjoyed the latter ones too


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

I listened to most back in April. There were three stand-outs for me, 15, 19 and 23. All others came close. I have to go back and listen to 17.


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## Mister Meow (10 mo ago)

I have a boxed set of Mozart's chamber music for strings (Brilliant Classics), so I've heard them all. Unfortunately, I've heard them so many times over the years that I've gotten a bit tired of them. Still, I have some favorites. I like minor keys, so I picked those. I love the theme-and-variations thing that he's got going in the final movement of K421, and then the fourth movement of K173 is a fugue ! I swear I can hear some Bach in there.

I, too, would "vote" for including the quintets in the poll, though it's probably too late to add them now, and it would hardly be worth making a new poll with just the quintets. The minor key quintets are actually my favorites in that whole set.


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## juliante (Jun 7, 2013)

Relatively small sample - but i guess a surprise front runner here? I have never listened to any of the quartets after 19 - i will now rectify this! Starting with the Italianos doing No. 23


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

juliante said:


> Relatively small sample - but i guess a surprise front runner here? I have never listened to any of the quartets after 19 - i will now rectify this! Starting with the Italianos doing No. 23


Not surprised that K590 is regarded so highly. Its an excellent quartet and possibly my current favourite (ask me next month and it may be another).


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I voted only for String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, K. 159. I may be the only one who has done so.

It's not that I have anything against other string quartets by Mozart, or that I don't recognize the greatness of several of the later works of his in this genre, but I hold a special affection for the K. 159.

When I taught non-music majors about sonata form, the K. 159 was one of my "go-to" pieces, generally the first piece I would introduce in my discussion of sonata form. The first movement clearly lays out the structure of the form, and even many a non-musically oriented young student could follow the argument by seeing the score and hearing the music of that first movement. The expostition intro of the two themes (dramatic and lyrical), the key change of the second theme, the brief but clear development, the reintroduction of the two themes in the recapitulation, now in the same key....

I've heard this piece hundreds of times it seems, but I never tire of it. So, it deserves my vote. You all can have any or all of the other quartets on the list; I'll stick with K. 159. To my ears it is perfect Mozart. And that's enough for me.


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## GMB (10 mo ago)

K421 in D Minor is a personal favourite of mine, of all his works. Like other works in the Minor key, the String Quintet K516 and Symphony No 40 K550, there's something special about Mozart in the Minor key, and don't forget the Requiem in D Minor!


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## justekaia (Jan 2, 2022)

I will pick two from the Haydn quartets : The Dissonance K 445 and the Hunt K458 and two from the Prussian quartets: 
Hoffmeister K 499 and the the ultimate crowning quartet K 590.


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## 89Koechel (Nov 25, 2017)

justekaia said:


> I will pick two from the Haydn quartets : The Dissonance K 445 and the Hunt K458 and two from the Prussian quartets:
> Hoffmeister K 499 and the the ultimate crowning quartet K 590.


Very good! ... and I have an LP set of the Bartok Quartet, in all of the Haydn-type Quartets. Any recommendations (in recordings ... past, present, etc. ... in any form) for fine performances of those Prussian Quartets? Mr. Wolfgang M DID rival (or MORE?!), in so many ways, the string formulations of Ludwig van B, Franz Schubert, Schumann and others ... I'd still say ... not to mention the Quartets of the fellow of the Esterhazy Court - F J Haydn. Eh?


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

K 499 does not belong to the "Prussian" set. So in the CD era when one can squeeze the last three onto one disc (as opposed to LPs where the last 4 would make 2 LPs) it is sometimes left out... The Alban Berg Quartet with the last 10 quartets is very good, I think. There is one recording from the 1970s on Teldec/Warner and at least another one from the 1980s or early 1990s on EMI. Not sure if available separately, though.


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## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

Josquin13 said:


> 1. Among the early quartets,
> 
> --String Quartet No. 1 in G, K.80


I like this piece and since it is the first violin quartet it's easy to remember, but speaking of the early works it must be also mentioned the number 10, which according to me is better than the first.







The 3rd movement is my favourite one. I consider it a masterpiece.


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