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During the final years of his short life, Mozart alternated periods of intense
activity -
Don Giovanni
,
Così
, the last symphonies and the fascinating
Clarinet
Quintet
, which the Talich also recorded - with periods that were depressingly
sterile. Everything took off again in December 1790. He had only a year left to
live yet created with unbridled intensity, as if he were aware that he would
run out of time. In twelve months, he was to write several short pieces, and
notably a last piano concerto, another for clarinet, two operas (
The Magic
Flute
and Titus), the
Requiem
and… two string Quintet - proof that the genre
had grown crucial to his expression.
He inaugurated this last series in late 1790 with the
KV593
, the last,
KV614
,
dating from April 1791. The two works lack the fullness and richness of
the KV515/516. Their scaled-back dimensions and more luminous tone don’t
hinder the charm of the pieces, which feature a variety of structural and
thematic innovations. In bothworks, we get the impression that Mozart was
seeking to produce a great number of effects using a minimum of means -
the lines are purified, the counterpoint more subdued, the dissonance less
frequent yet always surprising. Curiously enough, he seems to go back to
certain techniques used by Haydn in his quartets.
Many players have a tendency to sweeten the two quintets,
making them much more charming even though the
composer knew that he was on the edge of the abyss. The
Talich are among the rare groups to synthesize this great
variety of effects. Their testimony remains essential in
approaching a genre that Mozart illustrated only six times,
but with incomparable genius.
THE SIX STRING QUINTETS 43