K168a etc. String Quartet Fragments MozartForum Articles

Dennis Pajot

K168a Menuet in F without Trio
This movement of 28 measures had been cut in two sections by Constanze Mozart. On the upper section are 12 measures of the complete full score and 16 measures of Violin I and II; the lower section contains the 16 measures for Viola and Cello. On the other side of the page is Mozart's Cadenza to the 2nd movement of a Piano Concerto in D of Ignaz Beecke (K626aII/K) and a Cadenza to the Piano Concerto K40.

Only knowing the upper section Alfred Einstein believed the Menuet belonged to the String Quartet in F K590. Ernst Fritz Schmid thought the handwriting and structure placed it in the vicinity of the Vienna String Quartets of 1773, possibly being an earlier version of the Minuet for the Quartet in F K168; thus the K⁶ number 168a. However Wolfgang Plath's handwriting studies placed the origin of the fragment in the beginning of 1775. Tyson's NMA-watermarks volume shows the paper used is that Mozart purchased toward the end of 1774, probably in Munich. Mozart used the paper also in 1775 and most likely yet in 1776.

417d String Quartet fragment in e-minor
In the main portion of K[sup]3[/sup] Einstein listed as K417d a String Quartet in e-minor fragment of 54 measures, recently obtained by the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Einstein was certain this was the fragment Constanze Mozart listed in a letter of March 1, 1800 to Breitkopf & Härtel as the "entire first part of the first Allegro to a Violin Quartet in e-minor: 14 measures" [a slip for 54 measures]. Even though Einstein believed the mature handwriting and thematic development pointed to the time of the Prussian Quartets, he placed it in the vicinity of the d-minor Quartet K421/417d because of a nearly identical theme group motif. Thus the dating June 1783.

Georges de St. Foix placed the fragment beside the fragment K.Anh 74/587a in 1789 because of its piano-unisono beginning and the "perfection of a technique seen at his summit". K⁶ followed Einstein, but cited St.Foix.

In the appendix of his Mozart biography, Georg Nissen listed a String Quintet of 74 measures in e-minor, "the first portion completed". Thus it was listed it K¹and K² in the Anhang for fragments as Anh 84. Einstein in K[sup]3[/sup] kept it in the Anhang, but commented it was probably identical with the fragment Anh 79 (K³=515c), a String Quintet in a-minor 72 measures; no doubt initially a printing error separated the two. K⁶ moved this lost Quintet K.Anh 84 to K626b/30--as it could not be dated at all without an incipit. But the NMA-Critical Report to the String Quartets believed Nissen was in error to begin with. His description of "the first portion completed" is very similar to Constanze Mozart's "entire first part of the first Allegro to a Violin Quartet". NMA believed the fragment is a Quartet and not a Quintet and Nissen's number of 74 measures is a transcription error for 54 measures.

The final word (so far) has been from Alan Tyson's NMA-Watermarks volume. He places the paper type very late, first used by Mozart in the last months of 1789 and very often after that.

K458a (Anh 75) Fragment of Quartet Menuet in Bb
This fragment of 9 measures (1st Violin and Cello only written out) preserved in the Mozarteum was placed by Mena Blaschitz in her 1926 dissertation in 1786. Einstein thought it most likely a draft to the "Hunting" Quartet K458, dated November 9, 1784, and renumbered it K458a. In the NMA of 1960 Ludwig Finscher thought the fragment was more likely written down in the vicinity of the Quartet K428 (thus early summer 1783). Finscher also pointed out the similarity of the theme of this Menuet to the fragment of a Bb Clarinet Quintet K.Anh 91/516c, probably dating from early 1787; however this similarity could not give the positive results required to establish a dating of the Menuet that late. K⁶ kept Einstein's connection to K458, but also mentioned Finscher's theme relationship to K516c.

Alan Tyson's paper studies indicated the paper Mozart used for this Quartet fragment does not appear in surviving autographs before the end of 1789. Not only is the principal paper used in the 2nd Act of Cosi fan tutte, but it is found in the autographs of Mozart's "Prussian" Quartets K5898 and K590. Thus we are probably looking at a first attempt at the Menuet for the Bb Quartet K.589; and the NMA-Fragments volume numbers the fragment Fr 1790c.

K458b (Anh. 71) Fragment of Quartet movement in Bb (Rondo)
See artcile on various finales to K589

K464a (Anh. 72) Rondo movement in A
This long fragment of 170 measures covers 4 sides of paper. Alfred Einstein saw this as the beginning of a String Quartet in A, but any further realization of the movement was abandon in favor of that of the Quartet movement K464, and placed it as K464a in late 1784 or January 1785. In his 1947 supplement (K^3a to Köchel he changed his thoughts to the fragment being a Rondo intended as either the 1st or last movement of K464. Georges de St. Foix was also uncertain if this fragment was for a 1st or last movement. However from a motif (at measures 88ff.) that showed an "absolute identity" with the closing group of the exposition of the final movement of the A-major Piano/Violn Sonata K526, he dated the fragment summer of 1787. Ludwig Finscher in NMA thought even more striking was the thematic closeness of the entire fragment to the 1st movement of the Quartet K458. Finscher thought for this reason Mozart stopped work on this A-major Rondo. K⁶ simply repeated Einstein, ignoring the NMA and St.Foix remarks.

In his 1979 article on Quartet fragments, Christoph Wolff states even though this 170 measure effort shows no faulty design or problematic passages, Mozart gave it up apparently feeling "the degree of 'polyphonization' of the texture was certainly insufficient. The new and finished finale for the K464 represents a decidedly polyphonic, highly imitative piece from the outset". In the discussion to this conference session Ludwig Finscher stated our whole approach to this (and some other fragments) could be wrong. Perhaps these larger fragments are "glimpses into a country where the stage of sketching ideas has already passed but the stage of writing down a complete 4-movement cycle has not yet been reached. Mozart may just be trying to write down a movement, and therefore this A-major fragment may have nothing at all to do with the A-major Quartet".

K587a (Anh. 74) Fragment of quartet movement in g-minor
This 24 measure fragment was dated to 1791 because of its "serene", minor key mood by Mena Blaschitz in her 1926 dissertation on Mozart's fragments. However because of the sketches to the A-major Canon from the second finale of Cosí fan tutte on the other side, Alfred Einstein in K³ placed the fragment at the end of 1789, believing it a beginning of one of the planned six "Prussian Quartets". In the 1960 Neue Mozart-Ausbage Ludwig Finscher agreed Einstein's argument was sound, but thought the dramatic contrasts and concertized handling of the 1st Violin was so distant from the three completed "Prussian Quartets" he had doubts of placing it between K575 and K589. Finscher declined to date the piece precisely.

Alan Tyson's paper studies showed the paper used by Mozart for this fragment was first purchased by Mozart about December 1785 or January 1786 for the last two acts of Figaro. Though mostly used by Mozart in 1786 and 1787, he used this type of paper for the rest of his life. Tyson believed this fragment could be from around the time of the "Hoffmesiter" Quartet K499 (August 19, 1786), and thought of as a start for a g-minor Quartet for the "Prussian" set. The use of the leaf for sketches to Cosi marked the abandonment of that plan in Tyson's view.

In his studies of Mozart's handwriting Wolfgang Plath suggests that K587a dates from before 1784/85, since its handwriting style differs considerably from that of the Cosi fan tutte sketch. [This continuation of Mozart's Schriftchronologie was never published but related by Christoph Wolff in the 1979 The String Quartets of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven: Studies of the Autograph Manuscripts: Isham Memorial Library]. Looking into this, Christoph Wolff states if Plath is correct then this fragment would be among the earliest--if not earliest--thoughts on the "Haydn" Quartets. Wolff states in fact there exists close musical connections between this fragment and the finale of the String Quartet in G-major K387. Wolff sees several possibilities here--first, Mozart broke off composition of K587a when he realized its relationship to too close to K387. But as the opening of the Quartet K465 is based on this very material, perhaps this fragment was composed after K465 and Mozart with a back reference was connecting a newly conceived quartet opus to the older one? Then perhaps the fragment preceded K387. Perhaps Mozart decided against composing a g-minor quartet and incorporated a principal thematic thought from the fragment into the finale of K387. Thus, according to Wolff "it seems only logical to assume that the g-minor fragment--provided it belongs in the context of the 'Haydn' set--was not composed after the completion of the G-major quartet but either preceded it or emerged at about the same time".

As with K417d above an error in the Nissen Mozart biography occurred that involved this quartet. In the Appendix under Nr.20 Nissen listed a String Quintet in g-minor of 24 measures. Ludwig Köchel listed this as K.Anh 85, autograph lost. In 1938 Georges de St. Foix identified this quintet designation as a writer's error of Nissen for Quartet-fragment, and the key of g-minor and 24 measures making K.Anh 85 and K.Anh 74 identical. K⁶ eliminated the String Quintet K.Anh 85 from the catalogue.

K589a (Anh. 68) Fragment Allegretto in Bb
See article on K589 finales

K589b (Anh. 73) Fragment of Rondo in F
Listed as a Rondo for String Quartet in both K¹ and K², this 16 measure fragment (noted only in the 1st Violin) was dated by Mena Blaschitz without precise grounds as the beginning of a middle movement, which could also be part of a Divertimento (she saw an internal relation to Eine Kleinen Nachtmusik), dating it in 1788. Einstein thought it no doubt was connected to the F-major Quartet K590 and thus placed it immediately before that composition, in June 1790. Finscher believed it most likely the beginning of a finale movement. Constanze Mozart's letter to Breitkopf & Härtel certainly called this fragment the "beginning of a Rondo for a Violin Quartet in F-major; which Nissen also calls it. Alan Tyson's paper studies also place the paper used by Mozart in 1790, and importantly in both the String Quartets K589 and K590.

K626b/29 (Anh 70) Lost String Quartet movement (Adagio) in F
Listed in the Appendix of Georg Nissen's Mozart biography as Nr.24 is an Adagio for Sting Quartet in F-major, 8 measures. No known Mozart fragment matches this. It was listed as Anh 70 until K⁶ moved it to the K626b position with works that could in no way be chronologically placed. Otto Jahn mentioned the fragment, but (mistakenly?) wrote it was in A-major.

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K168a etc. String Quartet Fragments

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