My favourite quartet, I can imagine the four composers playing it, what I'd give to be in the audience listening. I wish time travel was possible, I'd go to all the premiers of the greatest music throughout history.
You teach me so much about the contrapunctal passages in Mozart's pieces. Thank you for that! :D It comes to great use in my compositions that some say sound similair to Mozart's music! :D
I have nothing more to add to this excellent diagnosis. The video is such a useful enhancement. Bravo. You have greatly simplified the presentation I had planned.
Glad I ran across this! Just a few days ago I had heard this ending on public radio and it blew me away. Then I heard it is from Mozart's Quarter no. 14, which I remember liking very much decades ago but had forgotten about. I had already dug out a CD of this quartet to play and to listen more attentively. This analysis shows me just how Mozart achieved such a brilliant and exciting finale.
I vote for the "Confiteor". I mean, a double fugue with both themes beautiful on their own, containing the Gregorian Chant melody of "Confiteor" in a canon at the fourth - how much better can it get?
Great video! Like I said in the Jupiter Finale comment section, I suddenly find myself enjoying pieces by Mozart who I had previously thought to be kinda boring and foreseeable. Never knew he had pieces that emphasized counterpoint this much. Nice performance too :)
Have you ever considered doing a video on K. 515 or K. 516? Both of those pieces have numerous contrapuntal passages as well as intriguing instrumental techniques used (just a suggestion).
Cherubini's text on counterpoint gives his own example of quadruple fugue. It might be worth analyzing [I believe he provides his own notes in the text, but I'm an audiovisual learner when it comes to music, honestly, so without hearing it it means nothing to me, kind of ;_;] but honestly, I'd just love to see a quadruple fugue executed with excellence. Also the completed final fugue of Art of Fugue would be interesting in the way you've done counterpoint videos :D
Once again Richard, deep and sincere thanks for your work. Engaging, enlightening, and always fun. Combining the aural with the visual is a very effective path to learning, deeper understanding, appreciation, and enhanced enjoyment. Have you done live lectures in front of an audience?
Have you also considered that the beginning of the coda with its tied whole notes may be a return of the main fugue theme but spread in this case across the four parts. At least rhythmically it has that appearance if not tonally. Many thanks for your insightful analysis...I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this work in university so many years ago. George.
Hey man! Really enjoying your content! Keep it going. Could you maybe explain the works of Theodore Dubois in the future? And Neo-Riemannian theory in his pieces as well? - it's really quite a compelling subject. Thanks!
I think it would wonderful if you could create a video for folks who don’t read music. My father said he was on an elder hostel trip and a retired trumpet player from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra gave a successful presentation on the Jupiter Symphony with colored blocks. This was before RUclips.
If i had to choose, I've always loved to think the recapitulation starts at 7:24.... the part from there is too identical to the exposition (except its subdominant key) to call the development section, imo. Plus, who says the recapitulation should start with a tonic key? ;-) Another great video, anyway!!
I don't consider the early quartets masterpieces in the same way as those from K. 387 onward, but I do like the pieces themselves, and of course as a lover of counterpoint, I like the fugal finales of K. 173 and K. 169 (probably inspired by the fugal finales of Haydn's Op. 20 quartets).
The green theme, the "semplice" one, is very similar to "Perdono, perdono" No, no, non sperarlo" from the finale of Nozze di Figaro, where the Count is wrongly accusing the Countess of unfaithfulness and he's on the point to be truly embarassed. So, comical for sure.
A very good analysis! Thank you. Do you think that it is important that the 'coda' chromatically ascending theme also appears stretched out in inversion at the end of the development section (see about 6:35 in your video)? Or is this commonplace?
I am conservative about what I consider a real motivic connection, especially when the motive in question is a scale, something that is ubiquitous in this kind of music, either as the basis of a drawn out progression, or as a melodic element.
Well said. However I have observed this same motif used a whole lot in the 1st movement. It's hard to know where to draw the line between "common stylistic riff" and "structural element".
Indeed, this Finale is just a gem - for me the peak of Mozart's string quartet finali. It truely breathes the spirit from the Jupiter symphony finale and so I tried to orchestrate it in order to explore the symphonic dimension of this piece : www.gerdprengel.de/Mozart-KV387-4_orch.mp3
Could you explain why some measures have a dot above the staff where there should be a crotchet rest on the first beat of the bar? And why is this not always used in the case where there is a rest on the first beat?
You deserve getting your own TV or radio show, just like Jean-Francois Zygel in France.
I have been playing this piece for more than sixty years and I have never been so beautifully aware of its structure until your video. Many thanks.
Very enlightening -- astonishing the way the Recapitulation is handled
Excellent teaching. Lucid and eloquent.
Great analysis. If only more musicians would watch videos like this!
Delightful presentation.
Brilliant movement and analysis.
My favourite quartet, I can imagine the four composers playing it, what I'd give to be in the audience listening. I wish time travel was possible, I'd go to all the premiers of the greatest music throughout history.
Very educating. Thank you Mr. Atkinson. Greetings from Iceland
You teach me so much about the contrapunctal passages in Mozart's pieces. Thank you for that! :D It comes to great use in my compositions that some say sound similair to Mozart's music! :D
Richard, your videos are truly amazing!
I have nothing more to add to this excellent diagnosis. The video is such a useful enhancement. Bravo. You have greatly simplified the presentation I had planned.
Glad I ran across this! Just a few days ago I had heard this ending on public radio and it blew me away. Then I heard it is from Mozart's Quarter no. 14, which I remember liking very much decades ago but had forgotten about. I had already dug out a CD of this quartet to play and to listen more attentively. This analysis shows me just how Mozart achieved such a brilliant and exciting finale.
Thanks for a terrifice analysis whichs makes this great music even more exciting.
To note: This same theme he used also in a Mass.
which one?
Mozart ‘ Credo Mass’ K257.
I love Your discussions of counterpoint !
Great video! Thanks for sharing. They are inspirational.
Awesome! One of my favorite Mozart movements. Thanks!
Oh wonderful. I had this piece stuck in my head, loved to hear your breakdown of the movement.
There are fugues everywhere.
Video on “Best Moment from Bach B minor mass!” or “Best Moment from Beethoven 120” 🙏🏻
I vote for the "Confiteor". I mean, a double fugue with both themes beautiful on their own, containing the Gregorian Chant melody of "Confiteor" in a canon at the fourth - how much better can it get?
Beautifully done! Most illuminating - thanks!
Great video! Like I said in the Jupiter Finale comment section, I suddenly find myself enjoying pieces by Mozart who I had previously thought to be kinda boring and foreseeable. Never knew he had pieces that emphasized counterpoint this much. Nice performance too :)
Thank you for making the video. It gets me more motivated to study music.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for doing these!
Ingenious it is! Thanks for sharing all these fantastic music theory video's
Have you ever considered doing a video on K. 515 or K. 516? Both of those pieces have numerous contrapuntal passages as well as intriguing instrumental techniques used (just a suggestion).
Yeah, those are two of his greatest pieces - I'll get to them someday...
Excellent anaysis!
Richard, I've added my own efforts to yours. Sooner or later the world will listen! 😆
Cherubini's text on counterpoint gives his own example of quadruple fugue. It might be worth analyzing [I believe he provides his own notes in the text, but I'm an audiovisual learner when it comes to music, honestly, so without hearing it it means nothing to me, kind of ;_;] but honestly, I'd just love to see a quadruple fugue executed with excellence.
Also the completed final fugue of Art of Fugue would be interesting in the way you've done counterpoint videos :D
Once again Richard, deep and sincere thanks for your work. Engaging, enlightening, and always fun. Combining the aural with the visual is a very effective path to learning, deeper understanding, appreciation, and enhanced enjoyment. Have you done live lectures in front of an audience?
Yes, but not about music!
Have you also considered that the beginning of the coda with its tied whole notes may be a return of the main fugue theme but spread in this case across the four parts. At least rhythmically it has that appearance if not tonally.
Many thanks for your insightful analysis...I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this work in university so many years ago.
George.
Brilliant!
I have seen recapitulations on the subdominant in quite a few of Mozart’s works, most famously, his K545 Piano Sonata in C Major.
Excelente
Hey man! Really enjoying your content! Keep it going.
Could you maybe explain the works of Theodore Dubois in the future? And Neo-Riemannian theory in his pieces as well? - it's really quite a compelling subject. Thanks!
Love this piece
How about an analysis of Dvorak's op. 105? Thanks!
The motif at 9:30 is from the magic flute
Or the other way round?
Yes
Tfw you like the closing theme more than the fugati
I think it would wonderful if you could create a video for folks who don’t read music. My father said he was on an elder hostel trip and a retired trumpet player from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra gave a successful presentation on the Jupiter Symphony with colored blocks. This was before RUclips.
If i had to choose, I've always loved to think the recapitulation starts at 7:24.... the part from there is too identical to the exposition (except its subdominant key) to call the development section, imo. Plus, who says the recapitulation should start with a tonic key? ;-)
Another great video, anyway!!
Yes, I think that's the best choice as well. Of course, many pieces of music (like this one) defy stringent classification schemes.
Mozart's simple piano sonata in C major similarly starts the recapitulation in the subdominant of F major
Yes, same trick... I know he has other movements that follow this scheme as well, but I can't think of any of them at the moment.
What do you think of his K173 string quartet? Awesome to listen to and great contrapuntal final movement.
I don't consider the early quartets masterpieces in the same way as those from K. 387 onward, but I do like the pieces themselves, and of course as a lover of counterpoint, I like the fugal finales of K. 173 and K. 169 (probably inspired by the fugal finales of Haydn's Op. 20 quartets).
The green theme, the "semplice" one, is very similar to "Perdono, perdono" No, no, non sperarlo" from the finale of Nozze di Figaro, where the Count is wrongly accusing the Countess of unfaithfulness and he's on the point to be truly embarassed. So, comical for sure.
Ha! It does sound similar!
A very good analysis! Thank you.
Do you think that it is important that the 'coda' chromatically ascending theme also appears stretched out in inversion at the end of the development section (see about 6:35 in your video)? Or is this commonplace?
I am conservative about what I consider a real motivic connection, especially when the motive in question is a scale, something that is ubiquitous in this kind of music, either as the basis of a drawn out progression, or as a melodic element.
Well said. However I have observed this same motif used a whole lot in the 1st movement. It's hard to know where to draw the line between "common stylistic riff" and "structural element".
Indeed, this Finale is just a gem - for me the peak of Mozart's string quartet finali. It truely breathes the spirit from the Jupiter symphony finale and so I tried to orchestrate it in order to explore the symphonic dimension of this piece :
www.gerdprengel.de/Mozart-KV387-4_orch.mp3
2:37 & 7:35
The thumbnail looks like periodic table to me.
What is that quarter note silence that looks like a comma?
I always liked Nielsen's woodwind quintet although much tamer than this symphonic movement. My teacher did not like the quintet.
Is stretto a kind of canon?
Does this recording use a different tuning than a=440? It sounded consistently flat
Yes.
Could you explain why some measures have a dot above the staff where there should be a crotchet rest on the first beat of the bar? And why is this not always used in the case where there is a rest on the first beat?
Yes - those dots belong to the preceding half notes. That's why there are no rests. It's a strange way of notating it.
Richard Atkinson Oh right! Thanks for the great videos :)
@@Richard.Atkinson It seems to be idiosyncratic to Breitkopf & Härtel editions too!
Kv. 401 is the best fugue that's not by Bach.
In my opinion, that isn't even the 10th greatest fugue by Mozart himself...
you
got the wrong example....................