String Quartet No. 19 in C major "Dissonance", K. 465
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The last and greatest of the six quartets Mozart dedicated to Haydn in 1785, the 'Dissonance' Quartet earned its nickname from the extraordinary slow introduction to the first movement — twenty-two bars of stark chromatic writing in which each instrument enters in turn with progressively wrenching harmonic clashes before the Allegro bursts forth with classical clarity. Contemporary critics were baffled and some suspected printer errors; later analysis has shown the passage to be one of the most harmonically advanced compositions of the eighteenth century, presaging the chromaticism of Wagner by eighty years. The remaining movements are no less remarkable: a deeply songful Andante, a subtly irregular Menuetto, and a finale of remarkable contrapuntal complexity. The dedication to Haydn, whose own Op. 33 quartets had inspired Mozart to 'compose anew,' is a perfect tribute from one master to another. The work is indispensable in every string quartet's repertoire.
Editions
Henle Verlag
Ernst Herttrich, 1997
Urtext edition prepared from autograph and earliest prints; the definitive scholarly performing text.
Bärenreiter
Wolf-Dieter Seiffert, 2008
New Mozart Edition critical text; extensively annotated with variant readings and historical commentary.
Peters
Wilhelm Altmann, 1916
Classic Peters performing parts; the edition most widely used through the mid-twentieth century.