String Quintet No. 2 (Mozart) String Quintet No. 2 (Mozart) The String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406/516b, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787, a transcription of his earlier Serenade No. 12, K. 388, for wind octet. 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). Unlike his other string quintets, however, the work was not originally written for strings. It is Mozart's own transcription of the Serenade No. 12 for Winds in C minor K. 388/384a. The work is in
String Quintet (Schubert) with Kurt Reher on second cello (a 1994 CD reissue of this performance was awarded a Gramophone Award). Among modern recordings, that featuring the Melos Quartet with Mstislav Rostropovich (1977) has been acclaimed, and is notable for the exceptionally slow tempo adopted for the Adagio. Rostropovich later recorded the quintet with the Emerson String Quartet (12/1990) on the occasion of the gala concert celebrating the 125th anniversary of the BASF AG, Ludwigshafen. A few recordings of the quintet performed on period instruments exist, including a 1990 recording on the Vivarte label with the following lineup: Vera Beths and Lisa Rautenberg,