Mozart - String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406 / K. 516b

Mozart

 String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406 / K. 516b

The String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406/516b, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787, a transcription of his earlier Serenade No. 12, K. 388, for wind octet. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola (two violins, two violas and cello). Unlike his other string quintets, however, the work was not originally written for strings. It is Mozart's own transcription of the Serenade No. 12 for Winds in C minor K. 388/384a

The work is in standard four movement form:

• I. Allegro in C minor
• II. Andante ³
  ₈ in E-flat major
• III. Menuetto in canone ³
  ₄ in C minor, with Trio in canone al roverscio in C major
• IV. Allegro ²
  ₄ in C minor (ending in C major)