String Duo No. 2 (Mozart) Explained

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Duo No. 2 in B-flat major for violin and viola, K. 424, the second of the two Mozart wrote [see [[String Duo No. 1 (Mozart)]]] to complete Michael Haydn's set of six for the Archbishop Colloredo, was written in the summer of 1783.^[1] It is in three movements:

1. Adagio-Allegro, common time
2. Andante cantabile, E-flat major, 6/8
3. Andante grazioso, cut time

The last movement is a theme with six variations and a coda. As a whole, this duo blends in better with Haydn's four because the viola is more limited to providing harmony than in K. 423. The set of six was presented as all Haydn's, and Colloredo was unable to "detect in them Mozart's obvious workmanship."^[2]

The Austrian composer Gerhard Präsent has made an arrangement for string trio (2 violins & violoncello) in 2012, regularly performed by the ALEA Ensemble.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Anja Bensieck, Vorwort to Mozart Streichduos. München: G. Henle Verlag (1997): III–IV
2. John N. Burk, Mozart and His Music. New York: Random House (1959): 140
3. Web site: Gerhard Präsent – Op. 70.