Serenade No. 13 for Strings in G major K525 is one of the most popular compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German title means “a little night music” which indicates a genre of entertainment music, which was traditionally performed in the evening and often outdoors. The “Kleine Nachtmusik” is, however, written for a chamber music ensemble of two violins, viola, cello and double bass, but is often performed by string orchestras. It was composed in October 1787 in Vienna, while Mozart worked on Don Giovanni. It is unknown, however, for what occasion or which client Mozart it was written. During his lifetime it was probably never performed. The work was not published until about 1827, long after Mozart’s death, by Johann Andre in Offenbach am Main. It had been sold to this publisher in 1799 by Mozart’s widow Constanze, as part of a large bundle of her husband’s compositions.
I. Allegro
This first movement is in sonata-allegro form. It opens with an ascending Mannheim rocket theme. The second theme is more graceful and in D major, the dominant key of G major. The exposition closes in D major and is repeated. The development section begins on D major and touches on D minor and C major before the work returns to G major for the recapitulation.
II. Romanze: Andante
The second movement, with the tempo marked Andante, is a Romanze in the subdominant key of C major. It is in rondo form, taking the shape A–B–A–C–A plus a final coda. The keys of the sections are C major for A and B, C minor for C. The middle appearance of A is truncated, consisting of only the first half of the theme. Daniel Heartz describes the movement as evoking gavotte rhythm: each of its sections begins in the middle of the measure, with a double upbeat.
III. Menuetto: Allegretto
The third movement, marked Allegretto, is a minuet and trio, both in 34 time. The minuet is in the home key of G major, the contrasting trio in the dominant key of D major. As is normal in this form, the minuet is played again da capo following the trio.
IV. Rondo: Allegro
The fourth and last movement is in lively tempo, marked Allegro; the key is again G major and the thematic material is presented in the order A–B–A–B–A and concludes with a long coda based on the A theme. The movement is written in sonata-rondo form. Mozart specifies repeats not just for the exposition section but also for the following development and recapitulation section. The recapitulation’s first theme is unusual because only its last two bars return in the parallel minor. This is followed by the coda which ends the piece.
