Event
Mozart’s Dissonance Quartet
Naples Philharmonic Sypert Salon Chamber Music
Musicians of the Naples Philharmonic
Reicha — Horn Quintet, Op. 106
Mozart — String Quartet, K. 465, “Dissonance”
Mozart’s String Quartet, known as “Dissonance” due to the unusual harmonies in its unusually slow and austere introduction, and a ferociously difficult piece from the master’s master, Anton Reicha — teacher of Liszt, Berlioz, Franck and lifelong friend of Beethoven — highlight this exceptional program that is sure to showcase the talent of the Naples Philharmonic musicians.
Czech-born, Bavarian-educated and a French citizen, composer and music theorist Anton Reicha is best known for his wind quintet literature and being the teacher to more famous composers like Liszt and Berlioz.
Reicha was a technical wizard whose work poses real challenges even for virtuosos. His Horn Quintet, featured in this program, is a thrilling instrumental tour-de-force described as 10 times more difficult to play than any known horn concerto, remaining beyond the reach of all but the very best musicians. While his compositions are entertaining and sound natural, few of the innovative ideas he promoted in his music and writings, such as polyrhythm, polytonality, microtonal music and quarter tones, were accepted or used by other 19th-century composers.
Mozart’s Dissonance Quartet is among the most popular of the composer’s quartets, though it didn’t start that way: Early critics called it “execrable” and “barbarous.” Completed in 1785, Dissonance is the last in a set of six quartets Mozart composed and dedicated to Joseph Haydn. After its first performances, many thought the composer had made a mistake, leading early publishers of the music to alter the harmonically complex sections themselves. Like any musical break from the norm, it took time for it to gain acceptance, with Mozart biographer Maynard Solomon eventually describing it as an “unprecedented network of disorientations, dissonances, rhythmic obscurities and atmospheric dislocations.”
