Quartet Salonnières (6/16/22)

 1772: Diversion and Divergence

Aniela Eddy, Natalie Rose Kress, & Rebecca Nelson ~ violin, viola; Cullen O’Neil ~ violoncello

Divertimento in D Major – Allegro, Andante, Presto – W.A. Mozart (1756–1791)
Quartet, Op. 5, No. 5b in G minor – Larghetto, Allegro Spiritoso, Andantino Grazioso, Tempo di Menuetto – F.X. Richter (1709–1789)
Quartet, Op. 20, No. 1 – Allegro moderato, Menuetto un poco allegretto, Affetuoso é sostenuto, Presto – F.J. Haydn (1732–1809

Here’s the theory. All of these works were written/performed in 1772. This is most likely not true. Now, on to the music.

Mozart’s piece was written when he was sixteen years old. Brilliant, but youthful. The first movement was brisk, sunny, and bright. It chugged along nicely. The second was gentle, with individual lines featured here. After a quiet start, the third movement was quick and lively, yet a bit restrained. In an interesting note, it seemed as though the repeated section that ended the piece was a touch faster than its first appearance.

After a shift in personnel (see violin/viola, above) and re-tuning (see violin/viola, above), the first movement of the Richter was effectively haunting—somewhat sad, bordering on melancholy, but in a good way, somehow. A+, in my book. The second movement was quicker in tempo, but still with a weighty feel to it. A repeated unison phrase in the four strings acted as an anchor for the harmonies that followed. And the movement had a very cute ending. The third had an elegant but somber quality, one that I found pleasant despite its length. The dance-like fourth movement menuetto (d’oh!) had a slightly subdued feeling. The middle section in a major key was a lot of fun, while the return to minor was quite effective.

A personnel switch and re-tuning preceded the final work on the program. The first movement of the Haydn was gentle and pleasant, and also made use of unison phrases. Oddly, I wanted to like it better than I did. The second movement was quicker but still had a weighty feel to it. One particular unison phrase acted as an anchor between the intricate harmonies that followed. The third movement had an elegant but somber quality that I liked. A subdued dance-like fourth movement had a middle section in a major key that was a lot of fun. The return to minor, to end the piece, was very effective.

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