String Quartet No. 23 in F major, KV 590

About the work

After visiting Berlin in 1789, Mozart planned a set of quartets associated with King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, himself an amateur cellist. Only three were finished; the F major, K. 590 (1790), is the last of these "Prussian" quartets — and the last string quartet Mozart ever wrote. The cello part is unusually prominent, and the four instruments converse almost as equals. The finale's blend of dense counterpoint and racing unison lines shows him still experimenting at the end.

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