Mozart String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K. 515

Classical Music / Mozart String Quintet 

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's string quintets are masterpieces of chamber music. Unlike standard string quartets, these are "viola quintets"—scored for standard string quartet (two violins, viola, cello) plus an extra viola. Mozart composed six completed works in this genre throughout his life.

The String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K. 515 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like all of his 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).

The work was completed on 19 April 1787, less than a month before the completion of his stormy G Minor Quintet, K. 516. This would not be the last time that a great pair of C major/G minor works of the same form would be published in close proximity and assigned consecutive Köchel numbers. The following year, the 40th (G minor) and 41st (C major) symphonies would be completed within a few weeks of each other.

The work is in standard four movement form, though published with the middle movements in reverse order, the Minuet movement preceding the 'slow' movement:

1. Allegro
2. Menuetto: Allegretto
3. Molto Allegro
4. Andante Allegro 

This quintet inspired Franz Schubert to write his own string quintet in the same key (his scoring involves two cellos rather than two violas as in Mozart's quintet). The opening theme of Schubert's work retained many of the characteristics of Mozart's opening theme. recapitulation).

Video:  MOZART: String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K. 515 - ChamberFest Cleveland (2023). Youtube, uploaded by ChamberFest Cleveland. Accessed July 19, 2026. 

 

Suggested Link:  

The Greatest Recordings EVER! Mozart: String Quintets. YouTube, uploaded by The Ultimate Classical Music Guide by Dave Hurwitz. Accessed July 19, 2026.

From Wikipedia, below is a list of string quartets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart’s six viola quintets span across his career, showcasing his development from a teenager to a mature composer:

String Quintet No. 1 in B-flat major, K. 174 (1773): A youthful and lively four-movement work written when Mozart was just 17, but already showing remarkable maturity. 
String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406 (1787): An intense arrangement of his own earlier wind serenade, Serenade No. 12 for Winds in C minor, K. 388. 
String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K. 515 (1787): Often considered his crowning achievement in chamber music; a radiant, expansive, and symphonic work. 
String Quintet No. 4 in G minor, K. 516 (1787): Written shortly after K. 515, this is its tragic counterpart, deeply emotional and dramatic. 
String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K. 593 (1790): A late, serene, and contrapuntal work characterized by its supreme elegance. 
String Quintet No. 6 in E-flat major, K. 614 (1791): His final quintet, possessing a warm, pastoral, and joyful character. 

 

Resources:

Mozart String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K. 515. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed July 19, 2026. 

List of string quintets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed July 19, 2026

 

(c) July 19, 2026. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs - Duruflé’s Requiem (2024)

 Choral Singing / Chamber Music

 

Duruflé’s Requiem

 

Friday, 24 May at 7pm
St Philip’s Church, York Street, Wynyard

 

“Exquisite musicianship, exemplary precision and virtuosic control.”

Sydney Arts Guide, 2023

 

Duruflé Requiem, Op. 9, is a 1947 (revised 1961) setting of the Latin Requiem by the French composer Maurice Duruflé for a solo baritone, mezzo-soprano, mixed choir, and organ, or orchestra with organ. The thematic material is mostly taken from the Mass for the Dead in Gregorian chant. The Requiem was first published in 1948 by Durand in an organ version. 

Take a moment to step inside the neo-gothic sandstone church near Wynyard station – St Philip’s on York Street – and be transported to another world. Three short Renaissance religious works by Flemish composer Orlando di Lasso are the perfect entrée for Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem. This work from 1947 is grounded in achingly beautiful chants to which he adds his modern French musical voice, steeped in mysticism and sensual harmonic lines played this time on the St Philip’s organ by the brilliant David Drury. Duruflé did not write a lot – but what we have has been crafted into exquisite perfection.

The intimacy and kaleidoscopic stained glass of St Philip’s on York Street makes an utterly beautiful setting for this short Friday night concert.

Friday 24 May at 7pm
St Philip’s Church, York Street, Wynyard

This performance will run for 90 minutes. No interval.

PROGRAM

Orlando di LASSO
Adoramus te
Ave verum corpus
Timor et tremor
Maurice DURUFLÉ
Requiem

ARTISTS

Brett Weymark conductor
Chamber Singers
David Drury organ

TICKETS

General Admission $39
Concessions and Under 18s $35
A booking fee of $8.95 per transaction applies.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

Review: 

Sydney Philharmonia, certainly not your normal Friday night commute!  classikON. By Pepe Newton | May 25, 2024 | Ambassador thoughts, Chamber Groups, Choirs, Harpsichord & Organ. Accessed May 28, 2024.

“Drury’s interpretation played a crucial role in creating an immersive sonic experience, sometimes producing weirdly harmonic soundscapes, but always perfectly fitting for the work.” – Pepe Newton, 

Trivia: 

Sydney Philharmonia Chamber Singers performed three Renaissance works by Orlando di Lasso and Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem. Sam Allchurch stepped into the breach at the last minute to conduct, to soloists Laura Griffin and Declan Wildes, the Chamber Singers – and last but not least, the brilliant David Drury who did the work of a whole orchestra on the keys of the St Philip’s York Street organ.

Related Links: 

Duruflé - Requiem, Op. 9 by Maurice Duruflé / Remastered (Century's recording). Classical Music /  Reference Recording. Accessed May 9, 2024.

M. Duruflé REQUIEM (Op. 9) - University of King's College Chapel Choir, Paul Halley, Nick Halley. Uploaded by University of King's College Chapel Choir. Accessed April 26, 2024

Photo Credit:

Durufle's Requiem. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.  Accessed April 26, 2024  

Resources:

Durufle's Requiem.  Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.  (Available at the time of access, April 26, 2024.) 

Requiem. (Durufle). en.wikipedia.org.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs 2024 Season.

 

(c) April 2024. Updated May 29, 2024. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Mozart String Quartet No. 1 in G major

Classical Music / Chamber Music

Wolfgang A Mozart completed his String Quartet No. 1 in G major, K. 80/73f, in its original three-movement form on 15 March 1770,  while touring in Lodi, Lombardy. The composer was 14 year old at the time. 

The fourth movement was added later, possibly in 1773, when Mozart and his father visited Vienna. There is a theory surrounding who this piece is in the style of, and many say the Italian cellist and composer Luigi Boccherini was the primary influence for this string quartet. 

This quartet is in four-movement form:

1. Adagio,  3/4 - Quartetto Italiano: Violin: Paolo Borciani; Violin: Elisa Pegreffi; Viola: Piero Farulli; Cello: Franco Rossi. Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group 
   
   
2. Allegro Assai, 4/4  - Festetics Quartet. Provided by Hungaroton.    
3. Menuetto, trio in C major, 3/4 - Festetics Quartet. Provided by Hungaroton
   
4. Rondo: [Allegro], 2/2 - Amadeus Quartet.
    Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group. 

 

Mozart String Quartet No. 1, K 80 - Video Score - Hagen Quartett.

 

Recommended Links: 

Mozart Complete String Quartet. All about Mozart.   

Mozart - String Quartet No. 1 - 14, Barylli Quartet. Youtube, uploaded by classic channel N.

 

Recommended Reading:

Fugue for Thought. 

 

Resource: 

String Quartet No. 1 (Mozart). en.wikipedia.org. 

(c) March 2023. Tel.  Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Grant Us Peace: Music of Vasks

Choral Singing / Chamber Music

SPC Chamber Singers and Sydney Philharmonia String Ensemble present: 

'Grant Us Peace: Music of Vasks'

Saturday 9 July | 2pm
St Andrew’s Cathedral

 

Photo Credit: Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

The past two years have taken their toll – suffering, grief, the isolation of lockdown, the anxiety of opening up.

Now, perhaps more than ever, we need the music of Pēteris Vasks, a composer who believes music shouldn’t “tell how awful things are, how bad the world is, how bad people are” but instead “how beautiful the world is, how beautiful people’s souls are”. Vasks’ music taps into our desire for beauty and for hope – even in its more anguished moments, it remains comforting, speaking to the soul with sounds more powerful than words.

In this concert we perform two musical prayers – the beautiful and moving Pater noster (Our Father) and an ecstatic cry for peace, Dona nobis pacem. These alternate with two Australian works: the optimism of Maria Lopes’ My Life Flows On and Stuart Greenbaum’s thought-provoking collaboration with poet Ross Baglin – juxtaposing a penthouse celebrity function with the burning of a museum in the streets below. And at the heart of the program is Vasks’ majestic setting of the mass – sometimes sombre, sometimes gentle, sometimes animated, as if sung by “happy little angels”.

If you love the music of Arvo Pärt or Henryk Gorecki, then you’ll recognise the spirit of “holy minimalism” in Vasks’ music. At the same time, his radiant style is completely his own – unapologetically tonal and drawing on the choral traditions of his Latvian culture.

Join the Chamber Singers in St Andrew’s Cathedral for two hours of sanctuary in a troubled world.

About the composer: Pēteris Vasks (born 16 April 1946) is a Latvian composer born in Aizpute, Latvia. He trained as a violinist, as a double-bass player with Vitautas Sereikaan, and played in several Latvian orchestras before entering the State Conservatory in Vilnius in the neighboring Lithuania to study composition with Valentin Utkin. He started to become known outside Latvia in the 1990s, when Gidon Kremer started championing his works and now is one of the most influential and praised European contemporary composers.

 

PROGRAM

Deborah CHEETHAM & Matthew DOYLE Tarimi Nulay – Long time living here*
Pēteris VASKS Pater noster (Our Father)
Maria LOPES My Life Flows On*
Stuart GREENBAUM The Night that the Museum Burned**
VASKS Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace)
VASKS Missa (Mass)

* Commissioned for our 100 Minutes of New Australian Music project
**Premiere

This performance will run for approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes, including one 20-minute interval.

ARTISTS

Brett Weymark conductor
Chamber Singers
VOX
Sydney Philharmonia String Ensemble

 

TICKETS

Premium $70 (Limited number of seats)
General Admission $60
A booking fee of $8.50 per transaction applies.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

 

Reviews: 

“The choir and orchestra were in magnificent form…” – Stephen Moffatt, Limelight Magazine. Accessed July 12, 2022. Grant Us Peace: Music of Vasks (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs). Accessed July 12, 2022.

“Let’s hope there is more of this to come from Brett Weymark and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs…" – P. Neeson, Eastside 89.7 FM. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs at St. Andrews Cathedral: The Sydney Philharmoania Choirs performs the sacred music of Peteris Vasks. Reviewed by Paul Neeson. posted 10/07/2022. EastSide89.7 FM. Accessed July 11, 2022.

“Such a treat to hear great music in this stunning cathedral.” – Annabelle Drumm, Sydney Arts Guide. SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS : GRANT US PEACE : MUSIC OF VASKS. Accessed July 12, 2022.

Resources:

2022 Season Together Again. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Artistic & Music Director Brett Weymark, OAM

Grant Us Peace: Music of Vasks. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.  (Available on access, 18 June 2022.) 

 

Pēteris Vasks. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pēteris_Vasks. Accessed June 18, 2022.

 

COVID-19 SAFETY

• All SPC singers, musicians and staff are double vaccinated.
• Audiences will be required to wear masks throughout the performance. If this changes we will inform patrons as soon as possible.
• Hand sanitiser will be available.
• A digital program book will be available on this page a week prior to the concert. A limited number of printed program books will be available for $5 each at the concert.

DETAILS ABOUT OUR COVID SAFE PLAN

 

(c) June 2022.  Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs - Path of Miracles

Choral Singing /Chamber Music

Experience this awe inspiring journey with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Chamber Singers, where they beautifully capture the physical and spiritual experiences of the pilgrim. 

Friday 17th August, 8-9pm St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta.
Saturday 18th August, 8-9pm St Mary’s Cathedral Crypt, Sydney
Tickets at the door.

Addendum (Posted today: December 3, 2018):  Happy to share that this performance has just be included in Limelight's top shows of 2018: Classical Music - Classical music concerts that wowed critics in 2018. Here's the LINK.

Joby Talbot Path of Miracles 
Brett Weymark conductor 
Chamber Singers 

‘The ultimate message of this music and music generally: hope for humanity and love for this beautiful world in which we live.’ - Joby Talbot

Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles is a sixty minute a capella choral masterwork that portrays the experience of a pilgrim traveling the famous Camino de Santiago. Landmarks along the Camino include the church of Roncesvalles and the cathedrals of Burgos, Leon and Santiago de Compostela. In Path of Miracles, these landmarks correspond with the titles of the four movements.

Brief Profile of Joby Talbot

Joby Talbot, born 25 August 1971, is a British composer. He has written for a wide variety of purposes and a broad range of styles, including instrumental and vocal concert music, film and television scores, pop arrangements and works for dance. He is therefore known to sometimes disparate audiences for quite different works. His prominent compositions include the a cappella choral works The Wishing Tree (2002) and Path of Miracles (2005); orchestral works Sneaker Wave (2004), Tide Harmonic (2009), Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity (2012) and Meniscus (2012); the theme and score for the popular BBC Two comedy series The League of Gentlemen (1999–2002); silent film scores The Lodger (1999) and The Dying Swan (2002) for the British Film Institute; film scores The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Son of Rambow (2007) and Penelope (2008). He premiered his first opera, a one-act entitled Everest, in January 2015, with Dallas Opera.

Below is a video of Talbot's  León,Third movement from "Path Of Miracles",  performed by Tenebrae, Nigel Short, artistic director. Paintings by Argentine-born Italian Sculptor and Painter, Lucio Fontana (1899-1968).YouTube, uploaded by Thomas Turner. Accessed 14th July 2018.)







Review of Performance.   

Limelight: Australia's Classical Music and Arts Magazine.  Accessed 20 August 2018.

Resources: 

Joby Talbot. en wikipedia.org
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.
SPC / Path of Miracles Page (available at this time of Posting.)  
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Repertoire Programme.



(c) Posted 2018.   Tel. Inspired Pen Web.  

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Songs Of Farewell

Choral Singing / Chamber Music

Sydney Philharmonia Chamber Singers  Presents 'Songs of Farewell: Music of Remembrance'

On the 11th of November,  the sacrifices made by men and women is recalled. It is a time for contemplation of the grandest themes of life and death. Music has always played a role in occasions of shared sorrow, both as a means of expressing it, and as a consolation. Choral music is a specially powerful vehicle for the music of remembrance, a collective singing on behalf of humankind. The Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Chamber Singers mark Remembrance Day with works that confront tragedy and offer hope.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Heavenly Voices

Great works from the Renaissance and Baroque

The majestic St Mary's Cathedral will provide the ideal acoustic for the heavenly voices of our Chamber Singers in this program which spans the late Renaissance to the late Baroque. Aria award-winning soprano, Sara Macliver, will perform with Tobias Cole, Paul McMahon and Christopher Richardson accompanied by period instruments, offering a rich and elegant sound which can only be created in such a venue.

Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612)   Jubilate Deo

Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707)   Magnificat BuxWV 203

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)   Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (Actus Tragicus) BWV 106

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)   Exsultate Deo

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)   Beatus vir SV 268

Johann Sebastian Bach   Mass in A Major BWV 234

At its heart are two works by JS Bach. The first, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit is from early in Bach’s career. Poignant and consoling, its gentle introduction played on soft grained instruments is some of the most heart–rending music Bach ever wrote. The Mass in A major is a mature work, one of the rarely heard Lutheran masses which Bach composed. This will be followed by some of the most sacred and spiritual works from Gabrieli, Palestrina and Monteverdi.
These uplifting performances will be an elixir for the soul.

Conductor: Brett Weymark
Soprano: Sara Macliver
Countertenor: Tobias Cole
Tenor: Paul McMahon
Bass: Christopher Richardson

Friday 14 October, 7:30pm, and Saturday, 15 October, 8:00pm Venue: St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

 
Resources:
Programme, Flyer, and website of  Sydney Philharmonia Choirs 



(c) 2016.  Tel Asiado.  Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved

Antonin Dvorak

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: September 8

Brief biography of Czech composer Antonin Dvorák, most internationally celebrated composer of 19th century Bohemia, now Czech republic. He is best known for Symphony No.9, "From the New World" and his nationalistic outlook by using folklore and traditional legends.    

Antonín (Leopold) Dvořák, Czech composer with the widest international renown due to his masterpiece Symphony No.9, 'From the New World,'  is equally known for incorporating folk music into his classical works by using Bohemian and Slavonic folk songs and dances. 

Dvorák was born in Nelahozeves, Czech Republic on September 8, 1841, Following the family tradition, he was trained as a butcher, something that did not suit well with him, but he finally convinced his father to allow him to pursue music especially singing, violin, piano and organ. He studied with Antonin Liehmann, then at the Prague Organ School. Only 16 years old, he played viola in cafes and the organ in a mental asylum in order to earn monies. A capable viola player, he joined the band that became the nucleus of the new Provisional Theatre orchestra. Antonin Dvorák was an amiable family man and lived a happy life. 

Dvořák Piano Trio No.4 in E Minor

Classical Music Milestone: April 11

Antonin Dvořák's Premieres "Dumky Trio" in Prague

Antonin Dvořák's Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor, referred to as "Dumky Trio" is first performed in Prague, 11th April 1891, with the composer at the piano. The piece is a music for piano, violin and cello. Commonly referred to as Dumky, it is among his most well-known compositions.




Dumky, the plural form of dumka, is a term introduced into Slavic languages from the Ukrainian.  Dvořák's dumka was completed in February 1891.