Amazing pieces of classical music - 23
Mozart's String Quartet No. 14 in G Major ("Spring"), K. 387 (Op. 10, No. 1): IV. Molto allegro. This final movement of Mozart's first of six so-called "Haydn Quartets" is yet another important milestone in classical music. It explores the reintroduction of polyphony as a complement to the accompanied lyricism of the progressive sonata form.
The "Haydn Quartets" are a set of six string quartets written from 1782 onwards but only published in 1785 in Vienna, dedicated to the composer Joseph Haydn with the great man himself first hearing them at two gatherings at Mozart's home before they were finally published. After hearing them all, Haydn remarked to Mozart's father Leopold: "Before God, and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name. He has taste, and, what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition".
The Amadeus Quartet's 1964 performance of the piece, with its so-called sweet singing, is now considered almost too intrusive, but its humor and intimacy are certainly perfectly suited to an episode of Kenneth Clark's Civilization entitled "The Pursuit of Happiness". The group gave its first performance as the Amadeus Quartet at the Wigmore Hall in London on January 10, 1948, under the auspices of British composers and the conductor Imogen Holst.
Violinists Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel, and violist Peter Schidlof were expelled from Vienna because of their Jewish descent following the Anschluss by Adolf Hitler in 1938. Brainin and Schidlof met in a British internment camp on the Isle of Man. Many Jewish refugees had then the misfortune of being received by the British as enemy aliens when they sought refuge in England. The three were given the opportunity after being eventually released to study with violin teacher Max Rostal, who gave them free lessons, and thanks to him also, they eventually met up with cellist Martin Lovett in 1947 to form their quartet that lasted 40 years
[media=https://youtu.be/Mh6n71azZtc]
The "Haydn Quartets" are a set of six string quartets written from 1782 onwards but only published in 1785 in Vienna, dedicated to the composer Joseph Haydn with the great man himself first hearing them at two gatherings at Mozart's home before they were finally published. After hearing them all, Haydn remarked to Mozart's father Leopold: "Before God, and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name. He has taste, and, what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition".
The Amadeus Quartet's 1964 performance of the piece, with its so-called sweet singing, is now considered almost too intrusive, but its humor and intimacy are certainly perfectly suited to an episode of Kenneth Clark's Civilization entitled "The Pursuit of Happiness". The group gave its first performance as the Amadeus Quartet at the Wigmore Hall in London on January 10, 1948, under the auspices of British composers and the conductor Imogen Holst.
Violinists Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel, and violist Peter Schidlof were expelled from Vienna because of their Jewish descent following the Anschluss by Adolf Hitler in 1938. Brainin and Schidlof met in a British internment camp on the Isle of Man. Many Jewish refugees had then the misfortune of being received by the British as enemy aliens when they sought refuge in England. The three were given the opportunity after being eventually released to study with violin teacher Max Rostal, who gave them free lessons, and thanks to him also, they eventually met up with cellist Martin Lovett in 1947 to form their quartet that lasted 40 years
[media=https://youtu.be/Mh6n71azZtc]
