Oboe Quartet (Mozart)

The Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370/368b, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in early 1781. The quartet is scored for oboe, violin, viola and violone basso or cello. In 1780, Mozart was invited to Munich to visit Elector Karl Theodor, who had commissioned the opera Idomeneo for a carnival celebration. While in Munich, Mozart renewed an acquaintance with Friedrich Ramm, a virtuoso oboist in the Munich orchestra. It was for Ramm that Mozart composed the quartet in order to show off his virtuosity and the improvements that had been made to the oboe at that time. One way that this piece showed off the instrument was the use of the "high F" above the staff, a note rarely played in any repertoire previously written for the oboe.

Main theme in the first movement, as played by the oboe in the opening bars of the piece

This piece is a work of chamber music, but it has elements that harken to other musical genres, and requires a fair amount of virtuosity. Because of its large amount of virtuosic playing on the part of the oboe and the large degree to which the strings simply accompany the oboist, it almost resembles a concerto, but with only four players instead of an entire orchestra. Despite this, there are also a number of places within the work that require ensemble playing, for example, the famous 13-bar passage in the finale in which the oboe plays in cut time against a 6/8 accompaniment.

There are three movements:

1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Rondeau: Allegro

An average performance takes around 15 minutes.

References

Notes

Sources

• Berger, Melvin (2001). Guide to Chamber Music. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-41879-0.
• Bromberger, Eric (2012). "Brilliant Beginnings". Chamber Music Northwest. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
• Gylgayton, Richard (1999). "Sierra Chamber Society Program Notes". Sierra Chamber Society. Joseph Way. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
• Odom, Sally (2001). Mozart: Oboe Quartet, Horn Quintet (PDF) (CD). Hyperion Records. CDH55390. Retrieved 22 November 2014.

Further reading

• "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Quartet in F major for Oboe and Strings, K.370 – Program notes". La Jolla Music Society. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
• Anderson, Keith (1992). Mozart: Oboe Quartet, K. 370 / Horn Quintet, K. 407 / A Musical Joke, K. 522, Naxos (CD). Naxos Records. 8.550437. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
• Buttall, Philip R (2006). "Program notes to a performance of the Quartet by the Endellion String Quartet & David Walter" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-04-08.
• Darwin, Chris. "Mozart: Oboe Quartet" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-04-08.
• Gallant, Thomas (2013). "W. A. Mozart – Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-02. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
• Hogwood, Christopher (21 February 2012). "Is it possible? – Mozart's Oboe Quartet in F major, K.370". Gresham College. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
• Pajot, Dennis (2007). "K370/368a The Oboe Quartet in F". Archived from the original on 2013-06-29. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
• Siegel, Steve (2012-01-19). "Bewitching old and new music featuring clarinet". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on 2017-05-22. Retrieved 2017-04-08.

External links

•  Quartett in F für Oboe, Violine, Viola und Violoncello: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
• Oboe Quartet, K. 370: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Quartet for Oboe & Strings K.370: in All About Mozart