Mozart project
The Engegård Quartet has recently completed an ambitious recording project with the visionary Norwegian label LAWO Classics: a complete recording of Mozart’s 26 string quartets. We have been working on Mozart’s quartets since the very first notes we played together, and feel a deep sense of achievement and gratitude that we have been able to see this journey through to its completion. Along the way we have discovered many more gems among Mozart’s early quartets than we could ever have imagined, and have revelled in the great masterpieces dedicated to Haydn and beyond. We are delighted to celebrate the completion of this journey, and a limited number of signed pre-release box sets are now available.
You can order your CD here https://www.engegardquartet.com/shop
Our first CD, LAWO Classics LWC1123 released in 2017, presented the three final quartets Mozart ever wrote, known as the “Prussian” quartets. KV 575 in D major, KV 589 in B flat major and KV 590 in F major. They are dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, an accomplished amateur cellist. They are intricately constructed and give a prominent role to all voices, but particularly to the cello.
The second CD, LAWO Classics LWC1167 released in 2019, includes three of the six string quartets Mozart dedicated to Joseph Haydn, KV 421 in D minor, KV 428 in E flat major and KV 465 i C major. One of the very few composers whom the young Mozart saw as an equal, and with whom he felt he could share his ideas and musical thoughts, was the composer Joseph Haydn. Although these two giants did not meet very often, they had a very special connection. After studying Haydn's string quartets with care and admiration, 1783 Mozart composed a set of six string quartets which he dedicated to his good friend and source of inspiration, Joseph Haydn. After hearing these quartets, Haydn said the now infamous words to Mozart's father: “I tell you before God, and as an honest man: Your son is the greatest composer I know or have ever heard of. He has taste, and in addition the greatest knowledge of composition."
The third CD, LAWO Classics LWC1219, of the final three quartets dedicated to Mozart's friend Joseph Haydn, was released in 2021. This CD includes KV 387 in G major, KV 458 in B flat major and KV 464 in A major. Written in Vienna during Mozart's "mature" years - from the age of 25 until his death at the age of 36 in 1791 - they are an exceptional and unique gift from a friend. Mozart's own son thought these quartets would have made Mozart immortal even if they were the only thing he had ever written.
The fourth album, LAWO Classics LWC1349, is featuring Mozart’s String Quartet K. 499, known as the “Hoffmeister,” alongside his delightful Divertimenti K. 136, 137, and 138, and was released this year. This release captures the quartet’s signature blend of precision and passion, bringing these beloved works to life with warmth and clarity. In K. 499 “Hoffmeister”, Mozart’s melodic inventiveness and expressive depth shine through, with the Engegård Quartet’s interpretation highlighting the quartet’s intricate dialogues and dramatic contrasts. Paired with the lively and joyful Divertimenti, this album offers listeners a refreshing take on Mozart’s chamber music.
The fifth album, LWC 1358 CD no.5 - Milanese Quartets K.155 - 160 & K.80 , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart could already lay claim to a long list of compositions when he wrote his earliest string quartet. At 14 years old, he conceived his G major quartet one evening in Lodi, near Milan. Similarly, other quartets on this recording appear to have been written on the spur of the moment, which does not mean they were written in a hurry, however. Joseph Haydn's achievements in this genre do not appear to have weighed heavily on his shoulders at that stage. K. 155-160 were also written in Italy, mostly in Milan, then the capital of the Habsburg duchy of Lombardy, and Italian influences are more easily discernible. The early K. 80 is a precursor to the later cycle of six quartets composed in late 1772 and early 1773 while on leave from the princely archbishop's court in Salzburg. Whereas K. 80 is in four movements, all the others are in three.
The sixth album LWC1386 CD no.6 - Viennese Quartets K.168 - 173 marks the final volume in the Engegård Quartet’s ambitious and deeply personal journey through Mozart’s complete string quartets. The six works featured here—K.168 to K.173—were composed in Vienna in 1773, a period of artistic growth and experimentation for the young composer. These quartets reveal Mozart’s increasing command of form and texture, blending elegance with emotional complexity and a bold sense of invention.
To mark the Engegård Quartet's 20th anniversary, we are releasing a limited edition Box Set of all of Mozart's string quartets. The six CD albums will include all of Mozart's 26 quartets and a booklet describing Mozart's journey through these wonderful works.
You can order your CD here https://www.engegardquartet.com/shop