descripção
Quintet No. 13 – is scored for solo double bass, violin, two violas, and basso.The opening theme of the Adagio is taken from the second movement of Haydn’s Symphony No. 99, which was first heard in London shortly before Dragonetti’s arrival there in 1794. Dragonetti changed the mode of the theme from Haydn’s G major to C minor, altering the character dramatically. This gives the Adagio a tragic cast as well as an expansive feeling that sets the stage well for the extended scale figurations in the solo double-bass part. The thematic material of the Allegretto likewise owes much to a preexisting source, in this case a popular canzonetta (“Ho perso l’ogaletto”). This movement has a gracious and amiable affect and is punctuated by numerous instances of parallel fourths and fifths, perhaps an inside joke directed by the composer at some officious pedagogue. This is a really great one!