String Quintet No. 5 (Mozart) String Quintet No. 5 (Mozart) The String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K. 593 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1790. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola (two violins, two violas and cello). The work is in standard four movement form: According to the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe, the finale was printed, and known for some time, in an inauthentic edition, in which its main theme, originally a descending chromatic scale fragment, was replaced in most of its appearances in the movement by
String Quintet No. 4 (Mozart) dirge or lament that is even slower than the previous movement. The music wallows in this dark area for a few minutes before reaching an ominous pause. At this point, Mozart launches into the ebullient G major Allegro, which creates a stark contrast between it and the movements that preceded it. Critics have often questioned how such an insouciant and carefree finale could be tacked on after three-plus movements of intense pathos, even though it conforms perfectly to the Classical understanding of a finale as resolving everything that preceded it. String Quintet No. 4 (Mozart) The String Quintet No. 4