Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, KV. 387 'Spring', transcribed for Wind Quintet

The first question is why transcribe a work such as Mozart's String Quartet KV 387, which is so perfectly rendered in the original, for another instrumental ensemble? The only answer for wind players is to have the opportunity to play and learn from this great work directly. Mozart loved the wind instruments, but wrote for them rather differently than for the strings. Of course, it is much easier for the strings to produce a seamless, blended sound. The winds, which all produce sound differently, will have to work hard for this, particularly in the first and third movements of KV387. In the second movement, with its strange sudden dynamic changes highlighting individual voices, and in the fourth movement, with its brilliant contrapuntal writing (a fourth movement of the Jupiter Symphony in miniature), the winds can contribute more color and individuality.