Country Dances (9) (“Quadrilles”), K. Anh.C 13.02
av Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s Country Dances (9), labelled “Quadrilles” (K. Anh.C 13.02; also circulated as K. 510), survive in a problematic transmission and are often treated as of doubtful authenticity. What is extant points to a practical set of ballroom pieces rather than a securely documented Mozart commission.
What Is Known
The work is transmitted as a set of nine short dances for orchestra, variously titled Contretänze / Contredanses / “Quadrilles,” and it appears in later cataloguing as K. Anh.C 13.02 (also associated with K. 510) [1]. An orchestral score was published in the 19th century in the Breitkopf & Härtel complete edition (Mozarts Werke, Serie XI: Tänze für Orchester) edited by Gustav Nottebohm [1].
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IMSLP’s source notes point to a manuscript score dated 1837–40 (A-Sm, M.N. 62,1), i.e., long after Mozart’s death—one reason attribution remains uncertain in modern reference practice [1]. The surviving score calls for a relatively festive dance-orchestra with winds and percussion—an ensemble that suits public Redoute-style entertainment, but does not by itself confirm authorship [1].
Musical Content
The set comprises nine compact numbers in straightforward major keys, with individual titles and nicknames given for several dances [1]:
- Quadrille in D major
- Contretanz in D major
- Quadrille in D major
- Contretanz in B♭ major
- Quadrille in D major
- Contretanz in D major
- Contretanz in F major (“La favorite”)
- Contretanz in B♭ major (“La fenite”)
- Quadrille in C major (“La pirimide”)
The instrumentation is notably colorful for dances, including winds (2 flutes/piccolos, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets), brass (2 horns, 2 trumpets), percussion (timpani, cymbals, bass drum), and strings—with the unusual specification of no violas [1]. In effect, whatever their precise origin, these are utilitarian, high-contrast dance movements designed to project clearly in a social space, aligning more with functional contredanse practice than with Mozart’s tightly personalized concert style.
[1] IMSLP work page with movements list, instrumentation, publication/editor (Nottebohm; Breitkopf & Härtel, 1882), and manuscript/source notes for K.510/Anh.C 13.02.