AMONG THE GREATEST
This leaves the C minor Quintet, K. 406, which occupies a special position. It is a transcription of his Serenade for Eight Wind Instruments, K. 388, composed in 1782 “in great haste,” as he wrote to his father. The string quintet arrangement was published in 1788, and Mozart seems to have made it for purely commercial reasons (a practice also followed by Beethoven). However, the music, either in its wind or string version, shows no trace of hurry or perfunctoriness. Indeed, Mozart was hardly capable of producing a major composition without scrupulous conscientiousness and emotional investment. Rather, the C minor Quintet is unique among his chamber music works and must rank as one of the greatest.

First, there is the tonality. Mozart reserved C minor for his most dramatic music, but contrasts the assertive passages with oases of pleading lyricism. Most of his works in this key open with an ascending C-minor arpeggio, often played in unison, ending with a diminished seventh that becomes an important thematic element. Three piano pieces: the Concerto, K. 491, the Sonata, K. 457, and the Fantasia, K. 475, come to mind. The quintet follows the same pattern: sternness and supplication alternate, at first in quick succession, then an extended sighing phrase based on the diminished seventh leads back to the opening.

This juxtaposition of moods, dynamics, and character continues throughout the movement, propelled by contrasting thematic material used in a diversity of rhythmic, harmonic, and contrapuntal combinations.

The slow movement, in mellow E-flat major, is an outpouring of lyrical, serene songfulness. The Minuet (Minuetto in Canone) is a polyphonic showpiece (see PDF, below): a canon between first violin and cello, supported by harmonies in the middle voices; the Trio (al rovescio) is a four-part canon (the second viola is silent) with the second and fourth voice playing the theme’s inversion. The Finale is a set of tense, passionate variations which, again alternating between loud and soft, build up intensity and drive until a sudden switch to E-flat major breaks through the somberness like a golden sunset through threatening clouds. After another extended dramatic excursion into C minor, the final variation is in bright, triumphant C major.

However, the great oboist Heinz Holliger has suggested that, far from being a “happy ending,” this expresses the “gallows-humor” of ultimate despair and should be played not with a smile but with a sardonic grimace through clenched teeth. (What would he say about the Finale of the G minor Quintet?)

In replacing eight wind instruments with five string instruments, Mozart achieved a remarkable, if not entirely successful transformation. There are many places where the wind sound seems to invade the string texture: at the beginning of the slow movement, you hear clarinets; in the variations, the bass runs are idiomatic to the bassoon, not the cello, and the Eb major variation is announced with a typical horn call.

With this transcription, Mozart gave a priceless gift to both wind and string players, and to music-lovers the benefit of two masterpieces of equal beauty, stature, and importance.