String Quintet No. 6 (Mozart)

The String Quintet No. 6 in E-flat major, K. 614, was completed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on April 12, 1791. It is Mozart's last major chamber work. 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.)

Movements
The work is in standard four movement form:
 * I. Allegro di molto in E-flat major
 * II. Andante in B-flat major
 * III. Menuetto: Allegretto in E-flat major, with trio in E-flat major
 * IV. Allegro in E-flat major

Reception
This quintet, along with the contemporary string quintet K593, are often dismissed as second-rate works reflecting the composer's straightened circumstances towards the end of his life. However, Eisen makes the point that rather than reflecting the "Classical" ideal, they are a new path for Mozart, one which eschews surface variety for the exploration of a single motivating idea that determines both the surface and structure of the work. While the slow movement is apparently a theme and variations, Eisen points out that it also takes on the characteristics of a rondo and of a sonata.