Quartet for Soprano, Two Tenors and Bass, “Caro mio Druck und Schluck” (K. 571a)
von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s humorous vocal quartet “Caro mio Druck und Schluck” (K. 571a) is an unfinished, privately scaled ensemble piece preserved in autograph and associated with Vienna around 1789–1790. Scored for soprano, two tenors and bass with keyboard ad libitum, it belongs to the intimate late-Vienna world of music-making among friends rather than the public stage [1].
Background and Context
“Caro mio Druck und Schluck” (K. 571a) survives as an uncompleted quartet whose authenticity is listed as doubtful in the current Mozarteum work catalogue [1]. The same entry nevertheless reports an autograph source and assigns the work to Vienna, 1790, while retaining the traditional association with 1789 in older numbering and secondary listings [1].[2]
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
A particularly suggestive detail is the “cast list” given in the Mozarteum database: Constanze as soprano, Mozart as one tenor, with two further male participants indicated only by initials [1]. If this reflects the intended performers, the quartet likely belongs to the domestic, after-hours sociability of Mozart’s Vienna at age 33—music made to amuse a small circle, not to advertise a new opus.
Musical Character
The work is a short comic ensemble in E♭ major, for soprano, two tenors, bass, and keyboard (*clavier*) *ad libitum [1].[2] The mixed-language title—Italianate “Caro mio” alongside the German phrase “Druck und Schluck”—already signals the piece’s joke-like, conversational tone, closer to a witty salon skit than to Mozart’s stage ensembles.
Although incomplete, it points to Mozart’s enduring instinct for clear vocal characterization through texture: the balance of four independent singers (S–T–T–B) invites brisk repartee, with the bass anchoring the harmony while upper voices can trade short phrases. In miniature, it shows the same Viennese gift for enlivening social music with theatrical timing—only here, compressed to the scale of a fragment meant to raise a smile rather than crown an opera finale.
[1] Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum (Köchel-Verzeichnis): work entry for K. 571a with status (doubtful authenticity), dating, scoring, key, and cast list.
[2] IMSLP: bibliographic page for “Caro mio Druck und Schluck,” K.Anh.5/571a, including key (E♭ major), scoring (4 voices and piano), and access to an early printed score scan.