In Mozart’s later piano concertos (Nos. 14-27), written for Vienna, the woodwinds step out from the shadows. Previously relegated to accompanying lines which often doubled the strings, the clarinet, flute, oboe, and bassoon now engaged in direct conversation with the solo piano. As with operatic characters, the persona of each voice came into focus.
The same magic can be heard in Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major, K. 452. Set in three movements, it resembles a miniature piano concerto in which the winds are given even freer reign. The combination of instruments—piano, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon—was virtually unprecedented at the time. The young Beethoven was inspired to use the same scoring (and key) for his Quintet, Op. 16.
Mozart completed the Quintet on March 30, 1784. He performed at the piano for the premiere two days later at Vienna’s Imperial National Court Theater. In a letter to his father back home in Salzburg, Mozart made a stunning statement:
I consider it the best thing I have written in my life. I wish you could have heard it, and how beautifully it was performed. To tell the truth, I grew tired from the mere playing at the end, and it reflects no small credit on me that my audience did not in any degree share my fatigue.
The first movement (Largo—Allegro moderato) begins with a slow introduction. It’s a gentle “call to order” in which we are greeted by each instrumental voice. Listening to this music is like eavesdropping on a conversation among a group of friends. The free-flowing dialogue is sometimes loving and nostalgic, sometimes tinged with pain, and most of the time playful and exuberant. Near the end of the exposition, this sense of fun includes a brief passage in which Mozart achieves a dazzling echo effect among the instruments. In the development section, the piano begins the main theme in A-flat major. The winds seem to say, “Let’s try another key,” and modulate upwards to B-flat minor, then C minor, and finally C major. All of this action takes place within the course of 16 measures.
The second movement (Larghetto) is an opera scene without words. Serene, noble, and at times tinged with melancholy, it begins with echoes of Leporello’s “catalogue” aria from Don Giovanni. Later, shadows fall and for a moment the music is shrouded in ghostly mystery.
The final movement (Allegretto) is a sunny, spirited rondo. It includes a written-out cadenza in which each of the five instruments bids us a smiling farewell. The coda brings the exhilarating excitement of an operatic finale.
This performance was recorded at the 2021 Solsberg Festival in Basel, Switzerland:
Featured Image: Detail of Facade of burgtheater in Vienna, photograph by Mihael Grmek