Mozart's String Quintet in C major, K. 515
Wed, Nov 19, 2025, 6:30 pm
Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio at CMS
1 hour 15 minutes, no intermission
Join distinguished composer and public radio personality Bruce Adolphe for investigations and insights into masterworks performed during the Alice Tully Hall season. Inside Chamber Music lectures are beloved by regulars and a revelation to first timers for their depth, accessibility and brilliance.
Each lecture is supported by live performance excerpts from the featured work.
Program
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756–1791)Quintet in C major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, K. 515
(1787)Quick Note
This quintet is one of Mozart's only two quintets for this instrumentation, composed in 1787 during a particularly fruitful period in his career, which also saw the composition of several other masterpieces, including his opera Don Giovanni and the Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor.
Listen for the interplay between the two violins, particularly in the opening Allegro movement, where they engage in lively dialogue, passing motifs back and forth. Pay attention to the expressive depth of the second movement, especially in the poignant melodies played by the violas.
Bruce Adolphe
Resident lecturer and director of family concerts for CMS since 1992, Bruce Adolphe is a composer of international renown, much of whose output addresses science, history, and the struggle for human rights.
Resident lecturer and director of family concerts for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1992, Bruce Adolphe is a composer of international renown, much of whose output addresses science, history, and the struggle for human rights. His works are frequently performed by major artists, including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Fabio Luisi, Joshua Bell, Daniel Hope, Angel Blue, the Brentano String Quartet, the Washington National Opera, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, the Human Rights Orchestra of Europe, and over 60 orchestras worldwide. Among his most performed works are the violin concerto I Will Not Remain Silent, the violin/piano duo Einstein’s Light, and Tyrannosaurus Sue: A Cretaceous Concerto.