String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590 (“Prussian” No. 3)
von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590—completed in Vienna in June 1790—stands as the final essay in his celebrated “Prussian” triptych (K. 575, 589, 590). Written with a conspicuously eloquent cello part for King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, the work marries late-Classical poise with a quietly searching inwardness.
Background and Context
By 1790 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was 34, living in Vienna, and writing chamber music only intermittently amid operatic projects, public concerts, teaching, and recurring financial strain. Against that backdrop, the three so‑called “Prussian” quartets occupy a distinctive place: they are not experimental in the manner of the “Haydn” quartets, yet they refine the conversational ideals of the genre with an added sense of instrumental diplomacy—especially toward the cello.
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The nickname points to the Berlin/Potsdam connection with King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia (reigned 1786–1797), an enthusiastic amateur cellist. Mozart’s set is thus often understood as music written with a specific kind of performer in mind: a cultivated player who wished to be engaged, not merely supported, within the quartet texture [1]. The F‑major quartet, K. 590, is the third and last of the group—and also Mozart’s last completed string quartet [2].
Composition and Dedication
K. 590 is securely dated to June 1790 and located in Vienna, consistent with Mozart’s late-1790 chamber output and the chronology of the Prussian group [2]. The Köchel-Verzeichnis work entry likewise situates the quartet within the intended trio (K. 575, 589, 590) associated with Friedrich Wilhelm II, highlighting the king’s reputation as a capable cellist and the unusually prominent cello writing that follows from that premise [3].
A practical wrinkle belongs to the work’s early publication history: the “Prussian” quartets were issued by the Viennese firm Artaria only after Mozart’s death, as a set (Op. 18) [1]. This delay helps explain why K. 590—despite its polish and its courtly point of reference—never acquired a single iconic “public” anecdote in the way some Mozart works did. It is chamber music that earned its legacy more through musicians’ admiration than through immediate celebrity.
Form and Musical Character
Instrumentation (standard string quartet):
- Strings: 2 violins, viola, violoncello [4]
Movements (four-movement design):
- I. Allegro moderato (F major)
- II. Andante (B♭ major)
- III. Menuetto: Allegretto (F major) – Trio
- IV. Allegro (F major) [2]
A “Prussian” balance: cello as partner, not pedestal
K. 590’s distinction is not that it turns the quartet into a cello concerto in miniature; rather, it consistently treats the cello as a first-rate interlocutor. In thematic handoffs and registral choices, Mozart repeatedly allows the cello to speak above its customary accompanimental role—often at moments where a listener expects a violin to lead. This is precisely the kind of subtle, performer-aware writing that makes the “Prussian” label more than a marketing tag: the quartet’s social rhetoric (who leads, who answers, who supports) is reweighted.
I. Allegro moderato: late-classical clarity with a conversational edge
The opening movement exemplifies Mozart’s mature command of sonata-allegro form (exposition, development, recapitulation) while avoiding overt dramatics. Its themes are built for quick circulation through the ensemble, and the cello’s involvement is immediate: not only underpinning harmony, but participating in melodic argument and rhythmic profile. The result can sound almost effortless—yet it is a carefully engineered “ease,” where balance and transparency become the expressive point.
II. Andante: inward tone, restrained intensity
The slow movement, set in B♭ major, is among the quartet’s most quietly distinctive pages. Its lyricism is unforced, and its emotional temperature is controlled rather than operatic—an example of Mozart’s late style in chamber music, where profundity often arrives by understatement. Here, the cello’s expressive line contributes to an unusually warm middle register across the ensemble, producing a sonority that feels less like solo-and-accompaniment and more like a shared, sung utterance.
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III. Menuetto: Allegretto: courtly surface, subtle details
The minuet returns to F major and, on the surface, resumes a familiar social dance posture. Yet Mozart’s late minuets frequently play with expectation—through offbeat emphasis, close imitation, and quick alternation of textures—and K. 590’s third movement rewards players who relish finesse over volume. Even when the writing seems “simple,” the distribution of voices keeps the ear moving around the quartet rather than fixed on a single leader.
IV. Allegro: wit without weightlessness
The finale crowns the work with brisk energy and a tone that is genial but not trivial. Mozart’s late finales often combine learned craft with public-facing charm, and K. 590’s closing movement does exactly that: it keeps the texture buoyant, makes room for quick contrapuntal interplay, and closes the trilogy with a sense of poised resilience.
Reception and Legacy
Because it was published only posthumously as part of Artaria’s Op. 18 set, K. 590 did not enter the world with the kind of high-profile premiere history that attaches to many concert works [1]. Its reputation instead grew inside the quartet tradition, where performers prize it as an exemplar of late-classical balance: concentrated in argument, economical in means, and unusually democratic in voicing.
Today, String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590 deserves attention not as a “minor” late work, but as a revealing endpoint. It shows Mozart, near the end of his life, returning to the quartet genre not to outdo the astonishing tensions of the “Haydn” set, but to reimagine intimacy—a music of cultivated conversation in which the cello, the instrument of a king, is welcomed as an equal citizen of the ensemble [3].
Noten
Noten für String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590 (“Prussian” No. 3) herunterladen und ausdrucken von Virtual Sheet Music®.
[1] Wikipedia — overview of the “Prussian Quartets,” dedication context, and Artaria posthumous publication (Op. 18).
[2] Wikipedia — String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590: date (June 1790), movements, and contextual notes.
[3] Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum — Köchel-Verzeichnis entry for KV 590 (work data and contextual description).
[4] IMSLP — work page for String Quartet No. 23, K. 590 (basic scoring/catalog identifiers and editions).