String Quintet No. 5

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quintet in D major, K. 593, was composed in 1790 for two violins, two violas, and cello. Its four movements combine contrapuntal writing with the expanded sonority of the two-viola ensemble.

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String quintet: A chamber ensemble of five string players, or music composed for such an ensemble. K. 593 belongs to the two-viola form of this ensemble.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: An Austrian composer and pianist of the Classical period, born in 1756 and died in 1791. He composed K. 593 in the final years of his life.
Violin: A bowed string instrument with four strings, played under the chin. The two violins carry upper-register melodies and participate in the quintet’s dialogue.
Adagio and Allegro: The opening movement of Mozart’s String Quintet in D major, K. 593, combining a slow introduction with a sonata-form Allegro. Its unexpected change from Adagio to Allegro sets the work’s opening dramatic frame.
String quartet: A chamber ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello, or music written for it. Comparing its four-part texture clarifies what Mozart gains by adding a second viola.
Mozart's string quintets: A group of six chamber works Mozart composed for two violins, two violas, and cello. K. 593 is one of the five quintets Mozart completed in this scoring.
Viola: A bowed string instrument larger and lower in pitch than a violin. Two violas give K. 593 a denser middle register than a string quartet has.
Larghetto: The second movement of Mozart’s String Quintet in D major, K. 593, marked Larghetto. Its measured pace and singing lines contrast with the first movement’s energetic argument.
Counterpoint: The combination of distinct melodic lines that remain harmonically coherent. Imitative exchanges among the five parts shape the quintet’s texture.
Vienna: The capital of Austria and a major center of European music during Mozart’s lifetime. Mozart composed the quintet while living and working in Vienna.