33

The Finale of Mozart's

Oboe Quartet, K. 370:
A Reductive Analysis

JOHN MAXWELL

One often hears oboists complain of the dearth of good

oboe literature from the classic and romantic masters. The
oboe repertoire is indeed quite ample from the Baroque
period and the twentieth century, but contains relatively
little from the intervening periods. During the Baroque the
oboe was a very popular solo instrument, but it lost favor
in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in com-
parison to the transverse flute and clarinet, which were
perfected mechanically more quickly than the oboe. It was
not until the twentieth century that composers again began
to write extensively for solo oboe. As a result, every
piece for solo oboe written by a major composer of the clas-
sic and romantic periods is well-known to oboists and is
often performed, although it may remain relatively unknown
to non-oboists. Such a piece is Mozart's Quartet in F Major
for oboe, violin, viola, and cello, K. 370 (368b). It is in
three movements: an opening sonata-allegro, a poignant slow
movement in the relative minor, and a light-hearted finale
in 6/8 meter, marked "rondo," that is the subject for
analysis in this study. The virtuosic style of the solo
part and the somewhat irregular rondo form of the movement
should provide interesting challenges for Schenker ian
analysis.
Mozart wrote the Oboe Quartet in Munich during the early
months of 1781 after the success of his opera Idomeneo. Ot-
to Jahn informs us that:
34 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

as long as Mozart was engaged on the composition

and study of his opera he had no time for recrea-
tion, and his visits were confined to the Can-
nabich family. After the performance he refreshed
himself by entering with his father and sister in-
to the Carnival gaieties, and by cheerful inter-
course with his friends. But the latter did not
allow him to remain long in idleness. To please
his good friend Ramm he wrote a quartet for oboe,
violin, tenor, and violoncello. l

It was probably in the household of Christian Cannabich that

Mozart had previously met Ramm, who was a famous oboe
soloist and a member of the electoral orchestra in Munich.
It was for Ramm that Mozart also wrote the Oboe Concerto in
C Major, K. 314. 2
Because the quartet was written for an excellent player,
the writing for the oboe is quite virtuosic, especially in
the rondo finale. The best known example of this virtuosity
comes at m. 95 in the finale where the oboe breaks into com-
mon time (4/4) against the compound duple accompaniment and
executes a long flourish of sixteenth notes:

lOtto Jahn, The Life of Mozart, trans. Pauline o.

Townsend, 3 vo1s. (New York: Cooper Square Publishers,
1970), 2:168.
2Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th. ed.,
S.v. "Oboe," by Philip Bate.
 MOZART'S OBOE QUARTET, K. 370 35

Example 1. Mozart, Oboe Quartet, III, mm. 103-8 •

J.
• i~ -" . •...... t", ... .. ~u • ••
J
- ....~I

I • I .. .. . " I
I . . . .
I

"' l - JoI ....

, ,
• ••• ~ ...... L . -
, ,
I

~ .... :;;;;;0-

I
J
" • " IF I

,
- - I

i
I

I
, .
'\

The elaborate style of the oboe part presents numerous

difficulties in reductive analysis. In many of the orna-
mented passages of the finale that will be analyzed here, it
is difficult to determine the underlying voice leading due
to the profusion of leaps and runs in the solo part, as well
as register changes in the accompaniment. Consider, for ex-
ample, mm. 44-51, the measures leading up to a cadence at
the end of the first episode:
36 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

Example 2. Mozart, Oboe Quartet, III, mm. 44-51.

ri,.,t.' t'-~ • • ... ~ '!:'

-
-'
~
,
, -~

~-
, "-
:
I
.
' .....
,h.-.......
;
- I
r

-
"\.
.,
'!' .........e:::: • ..'=.a. t ..... ~ A

,/ "
""""-
,.
~

!.~ ~ .L"
-v, I - -
~ ~ ~
'""
; ' - -I

l
- I
I
\ -i.'
------------
The voice leading in this excerpt can only be interpreted
in the context of events at a deeper structurai level. The
large leaps of the oboe represent motion between structural
and inner voices, as well as register transfer of inner
voices above the structural voice. By making the essential
octave corrections, the passage can be reduced to a
descending middleground five-line (as shown in Example 3).
As will be seen in the course of this paper, such voice
leading is typical of the movement, particularly of pre-
cadential passages.
The formal plan of the rondo finale is rather unusual.
The movement consists of six sections, A B A C A B I , forming
what would be a seven-part rondo but for the lack of a final
statement of the main theme. The only other rondo movement
by Mozart known to the author that has this shortened form
is the final movement of the Piano Sonata in A Minor, K. 310
(300d) •
The foreground and midd1eground of the main theme, con-
stituting the A section (mm. 1-22), are presented in Example
4. Since the A section is harmonically closed (as is typi-
cal for an opening rondo theme), it is no surprise that the
principal structural motion is a middleground five-line
 MOZART'S OBOE QUARTET, K. 370 37

Example 3. Middleground Five-line, mm. 43-51.

® S.,f
@

~.~ ~
r~ b:t.
h N·
,
( ........ ,
I

.; • ......
\ 7
..( i - ..,
". £
~ . 1
." , \
'--
'1- 3
!

---
(
\
'----"'" I
N

descending from the first structural pitch c 3 (=5).

An interesting aspect of prolongation of the structural
pitch 5 can be observed by comparing mm. 5 and 13 (see Exam-
ple 5). In the earlier measure, c 3 is implied but not
actually sounded; in m. 13, the corresponding place in the
parallel phrase structure, c 3 is actually sounded. It is as
if the earlier, more subtle voice leading were being
clarified the second time.
Another noteworthy voice leading feature can be seen in·
the foreground graph (Example 4) at m. 18. The a 2 is ap-
proached through voice leading at two distinct structural
levels. A foreground three-line (f-g (g) a) rises in a
structural alto voice, and as part of the middleground five-
line, the a 2 is approached from bb2.
The first episode begins in m. 23 with an Ansties-like
arpeggiation pattern similar to the one found at the begin-
ning of the main theme. The foreground and middleground
graphs of this section (mm. 22-51) are shown in Example 6.
The overall structure at the ~iddleground is a fairly
straightforward prolongation of 5 under which a five-line
descends in the structural alto from g2 to c 2 in mm. 45-51.
The passagework in the solo line in this section can be
interpreted in several ways (as shown in the foreground
graph from m. 27 to m. 32). The runs in mm. 27-28 can be
interpreted first as a register transfer from f2 to e l and
then as the unfolding e 2 _g 2 • The ornamental figure in m. 30
is reduced to an unfolding f2_ a 2. In mm. 31-32 the large
leaps of the solo part must be interpreted as motions from
 38 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

Example 4. Foreground and Middleground, mm. 1-22.

A ® @
5
~

s:!1

1:'~
N
~I~
IN II
---.,. =:!:....--. ~+~
3J
0.
... '! .J.- ....-...---.- ,--....... ~
I - , ,
• •
• ,
• ...... ---
)
• , ~ bi" +
~.b.5
.. I
c +
3· ~. 3
D'IV., Div. Dill.
f
\
.
• , • •
..... .-/
/ ~ /" I~I
':) N

.., I
!. liS 11...

I~i
. '.'
J, ~...--J
,.
I

oliv,

an upper voice into and out of an inner part; the octaves

have been corrected even in the foreground graph to produce
more lucid voice leading (i.e., to reveal the underlying
patterns).
In m. 39-43 there is an extended register transfer over a
C pedal leading to the passage of rather complex voice
1 ead ing (mm. 43-51) ci ted earl ie r. In these measures
numerous octave corrections must be made so that the im-
portant descending five-line can be made clear, as has been
done in the foreground graph.
The presence of c 3 , d 3 , and e b3 as isolated notes in the
oboe leaps in these measures is significant. They have been
 MOZART'S OBOE QUARTET, K. 370 39

Example 5. Mm. 3-6, 11-14.

... t' . ~. . ~ • .i!. ... ...

,
I

, ,
~ I
~ .~.
~

- I ~
I
t

- -
.-..--"\ ~
-------- I

.. !r'
'i, '1: .--1:---:l+
,
!:~J. It~ i
I ~. . ~. I
17
I I
II

-
I I ~ .........
,
,
,

.
' I \

-........=
ro--.
:

,
== .............
,
----
~I, .....----...
-.-----.. I
~

• •

flagged in the graph as "iQteresting notes" because they

hint of the prolongation of 5 at a deeper level than the
middleground five-line. The presence of c 3 as a foreground
event in the short codetta that follows the caqence in m. 51
also reinforces the effect of this hint of 5 at a deeper
level.
Example 7 presents the foreground and middleground graphs
of the cod etta to the first episode (mm. 51-59) and the
retransition to the main theme (mm. 59-63). These ~easures
serve to prepare the repetition of the Anstieg to 5 at the
return of the main theme (m. 64). The v 7 chord is arpeggi-
ated upwards and a tritone unfolding (e 2 _b b2 ) resolves into
the notes of the Anstieg pattern.
The second A section in mm. 65-86 is an exact repetition
of the main theme and has been graphed at a deeper middle-
ground level even in the foreground graph (see Example 8).
At the conclusion of the section in m. 86, there is a three-
measure br idge (a fo reg round si x-I ine) to the beg inning of
the second episode, which begins in the subdominant with the
opening Anstieg pattern of the main theme. The Anstieg,
however, does not stop at f2 (which would be 5 in B-flat
major), but continues upwards to bbJ, which begins the
 40 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

~lfI.
,..., .....
0;.\ -i-I
-...) --
...... ~ ~\

t r- ""' ""
I I p-
...In ,.,
I I
~ ..,):r
- -.l>::F-
l'. -Zl
.L:.H 1 :J ~~
....... ~
....c. ..1\ ~
.~

- fo-

~
-
.. -
l"""'l"l

_. "
r-""""
-)~
I I I
~
<>o-.J';r
~
~

)
-e.i-l ..

® ~ . ::>
~

r-i
LD
I
C\J
C\J

S
S
.
I. ~ 1/
1\

Ii
~ ';;:
'D
s:: ~(.~ ~ I·
;:j
0
H
bD
Q) ~0~
-4-1'
{ I"
1/
r-I
'D
'D
® ---;---iol·
'M
::;s @ 7
~ I·
'D
s::
t.p I:!J

~
C1:l

'D
s::
;:j
+
0
H ~
bD
Q)
H ®
i ,
~c
0
fJ:.i r- II

c.D r-
Q)
r-I

!~ ~I "'I
~
0..
S
C1:l
X
fil

@ I H-
.
• ~~ •
 MOZART'S OBOE QUARTET, K. 370 41

Example 7. Foreground and Middleground, mm. 51-65.

A
S-

(
!!...
~
j: rJ '~l\
I
• ,
"
6r~'

71~ ..... f
"----" ..............
oj S'-,-s 7
7 - '( - 1
eLi"'. diu
I
~·1~\
1- 1:

.±
I r;'\J
- -
) J
<C

1.

descent from c 3 (5) to the interruption at m. 112 (see again

Example 8).
The use of the principal theme at the beginning of the
second episode gives this section the character of a
development section. Although no real development of
ea~lier themes takes place beyond the opening four or five
bars, the entire second episode has an elaborate, virtuosic
character, most especially in the previously cited
polymetric section in mm. 95-108. The relatively greater
tonal instability of the second episode also contributes to
its developmental nature; IV, v, vi, and ii are all briefly
tonicized.
From tQe subdominant chord that forms the harmonic sup-
port for 4, the bass moves to c, reaching the leading tone
seventh chord of vi, which follows quite naturally and sup-
42 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

II
<t't

d'-
.
f'"
"'h
...:
..I)
~f'ot

(.
1Ol-
+I
\

•
",

~
+ H .+
. ;. )
4 + ~ ......
(,
~ (.f I- ..-
'"' {
~
"Z i-J
,...::l ~~
4- ,.--

C\l
M
({" ""I"')
I
-.3 r
•

b \
M
I
lD
CD
® "'t') II' -tt'\ '\l

,..
aa
~
'f '6
!'
"',.".
I.
tea: -I' t'

"0 lr ,

~~
\
:::: ~:r
;:j
0
H
~ '" ~
a.o
(])
rl
. ~ \
"0
® ~ ::r- <-::r- 00

\
.\,)1
"0
·rl (.1. ) "7

- r-"'"
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= , I

"0
::::
CIl
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::::
.0
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i

@
;:j
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H
a.o
t" ' " ....
, . /
H
(])
'"
... ";:r

0
P::; ~/ ...
,~
v
)
00
@
~~
(])
L. <.
i--
rl
. ( ~
\:i '--+ . ?-
p.,
aCIl e{ -+ I-
..;
:x: /'"!.. ---t'

~
~
"'\I) -.p+
~"
< II
® ~\:" H
J: ~

~
.~ ~.

"
 MOZART'S OBOE QUARTET, K. 370 43

ports 3. A After a descending foreground five-line that

prolongs 3 (supported by vi), a series of runs appears in
the solo oboe. This passagework can be well represented at
the foreground as a series of unfoldings leading through the
circle of fifths to the dominant preparation and then the
interruption itself at m. 112. A
As can be seen in Example 9, the structural 5 is regained
immediately after the interruption over dominant harmony.
The c 3 has a dual function at the foreground at the point it
appe~rs in m. 114. Not only does it represent the regaining
of 5, but it is also the first note in a four-line (trans-
ferred upward out of an inner part) that ascends to the
first note of the Anstieg at the 2eginning of the A section
in m. 118. Thus the structural 5 is reached at m. 118 by
two means simultaneously: through the familiar arpeggiation
(though in this case a longer pattern starting on c 2 ) and as
a prolongation of the c 3 in m. 113. The arpeggiation lies
at a level nearer the surface, however. This will be seen
later in the middleground and background graphs of Example
11.
The repetition of the A section in mm. 118-139 requires
no additional comment. The B' section beginning in m. 139
is of considerable interest, however, because it contains
the final descent of the Urlinie. This is unusual, of
course, because in a normal seven-part rondo with a typical-
ly closed A section, the final descent would come in the
final statement of the main theme. Had Mozart completed the
seven-part rondo form in this movement, the middleground
five-line of the principal theme would have been reinter-
preted as the final descent.
Perhaps as a result of its new structural meaning, and
also because it is now in the tonic key, the B' section is
quite different from the original first episode. The
opening phrase of the first episode (mm. 23-24) is entirely
missing in the B' section, which seems to indicate that it
was a short transition to the first B section. Lacking this
transitional material, the B' section begins with the six-
teenth note pattern of m. 35 that forms a foreground neigh-
bor note patt~rn. The descent begins Aquite early in the
section with 4 entering in m. 142 and 3 in m. 143. The a 2
is prolonged and transferred downwards by means of a con-
trapuntal pattern moving through the circle of fifths. In
m. 147 the voice leading is obscured once again by the large
leaps and runs in the solo oboe, but it can be reduced by
octave corrections to the simpler form found in the fore~
ground graph. A middleground three-line descends from 3
(a 2 ) to a cadence in m. 151. This cannot be interpreted as
the final descent of the Urlinie for several reasons. There
is another similar but more extensively ornamented cadence
following immediately afterward (m. 164). (This cadence and
the conclusion of the movement are shown in the graphs of
44 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

I
® 1+ - H
-
\+
\- ,""-",, \-,..'" ...
I I
t t
-t:-+I ~ i- ...>7' r + ..s-=r
Ie
~t:1 -··l'"
.. '\
~\
~~ II

® <::0(
(Y)
.:...c +1
- +-
~

.
+
)
r-
fJ
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I
, I.
2
- ) ""9
•
I
D
i"
\
Mf
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2
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I 1·1) H
;
;;
:::r "t-
q ~
~

'0

~~
i=1
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o
H
bJ)
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r-I
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1--.

~ -+ -
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D
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-+
<..
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i=1
ro
f--.j.
I
:.&
,;
-) <.v,.J---
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f)/
H
<,VI
,C\l? /1fJ+
'0
.
i=1
;j

~®
bJj
i:
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o
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---+\
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+
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\ \-1
+
-- ... do:
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ll.r-. k ,.
 MOZART'S OBOE QUARTET, K. 370 45

Example 10.) Furthermore, from a thematic standpoint, the B'

section has not come to its conclusion in m. 151. In a
somewhat varied form the sixteenth note patterns of m. 139
continue after the cadence. After the second cadence (m.
164), however, the cod etta that concluded the first B sec-
tion appears, and with the addition of some material derived
from the first retransition, it forms the coda that con-
cludes the movement. Harmonically, the codetta beginning in
m. 165 also reinforces the cadence in m. 164 as the final
descent, because it begins with a four-measure tonic pedal.
It will be noted that the same techniques used to sim-
plify the voice leading at other cadential areas of the
movement have been applied to the final cadential material
leading up to m. 164. One significant feature of both the
cadence tQere and at m. 151 is the tenacious reappearance of
c 3 over 3, almost as a reminder of its extensive prolonga-
tion throughout most of the movement. It is seen again in
the coda and rises to f3 on the final chord.
Having surveyed the foreground graphs of the various sec-
tions of the movement, we can now turn our attention to the
completed middleground and background graphs (see Example
11) and perhaps draw some conclusions about the larger
structural and formal aspects of the piece. First, however,
it might be helpful to look to Schenker's writings to find
out just what sort of underlying structure one would expect
in a rondo form. In Free Composition under the heading
"Distinction between the Rondo and Other Forms," Schenker
informs us that the "significant difference between the
rondo and the sonata form li~s in the fact that the latter
involves a forward thrust to 2 (where an interruption in the
sense of the structural division occurs); this motion is not
present in the rondo.,,3 The rondo forms graphed by Schenker
in Free Composition conform to this statement; they do not
contain interruptions. In the graph of Beethoven's Sonata
Ope 10, no. 3 , IV, for example, Schenker shows the
structural divisions of the A B A CAD A form througQ
neighbor notes and mixture (chromatic inflection) by which 3
is prolonged until the final descent in the last A section. 4
In view of Schenker's strong statement that an interrup-
tion is not present in the rondo form, the interruption in
the middleground and background structures shown in Example
11 is rather surprising. Either this rondo movement does
not conform to Schenker's prescription, or the interpreta-
tion including an interruption is not correct.
In Structural Hearing Felix Salzer does not deem it
necessary to discuss the rondo form as a separate entity.

3Heinrich Schenker, Free Composition, trans. Ernst Oster,

2 vols. (New York: Longman, 1979), 1:142.
4Ibid ., vol. 2, fig. 155:2.
46 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

II I
I III
-e....
-=--H

(+
-"-+J

® ~ ::;
.... '
.,01~.
( f
.J, f
E
'"d
~
Q)
® + ~
-

M
I «- 'i
L0
M
+
( -j
S
S @< - -to ;.

!'.,-, M
~

'"d
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0
-e., I , ..c.tl ' I

1 ,/1·
H -.5l :r -.5l 7'
b.O
Q)
,.....,
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......
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'r-!
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ell I
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+ =i \

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ell
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....
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 MOZART'S OBOE QUARTET, K. 370 47

- \-\
- .
I; ,...Ir!M
N ,. ,.\nf'll

...£-<t I 1 \ \
, I

(
...9:r

(~.I -
'-'7

.. l.I\n
• I
.,
~:r ~

'P 'P

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':l"
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()

. ..... ..
~ ~" ...... - --"
48 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

He asserts that the seven-part rondo constitutes a three-

part form as follows: 5

A B A C A B A

A B A

Salzer classifies three-part forms into four groups: 1)

three-part structure form originating in interruption (in-
cluding mainly sonata movements in the minor mode); 2)
three-part prolongation form originating in interruption
(including major-mode sonata forms and some other variants);
3) genuine three-part prolongation form; and 4) three-part
prolongation form with contrapuntal structure (a~plied by
Salzer to several twentieth-century compostions) • All of
the rondo forms graphed by Schenker in Free Composition fit
very neatly into Salzer's genuine three-part prolongation
form, in which the first structural pitch is prolonged
without an interruption throughout the first two sections of
the piece, and the final descent appea~s in the third sec-
tion. The Mozart rondo with which we are dealing does not;
it ~its into the second category because of the prolongation
of 5 through the A B A section and the interruption in the C
section. Salzer does not cite any rondo movements as exam-
ples of this structural form, but he graphs a Mazurka (Op.
17, no. 2) by Chopin that has the interruption in the middle
section. 7
One might wonder if the atypical underlying structure of
the Mozart rondo is connected in some way with its "clipped"
form. The rondo from Mozart's Sonata, K. 310, which has the
same A B A CAB form, does not share the same underlying
structure, however. In it the central episode is a
harmonically closed and self-contained section in,the rela-
tive major, producing an overall "genuine three-part
prolongation form" for the movement. At the background
level (see Exam!?l e 12) its structure contains only a
prolongation of 3, (c 2 ), which is chromatically inflected in
the central episode, and the final descent.
The key to understanding the interruption in the Quartet
is in the character of the C section in which it occurs. As
was mentioned above, the section contains developmental ele-
ments and has a virtuosic, almost improvisatory character.
It is plainly not the typical independent second episode of
a seven-part rondo, but the development of a sonata rondo.
According to Douglass Green, the essence of the sonata rondo

5Felix Salzer, Structural Hearing, 2 vols. (New York:

Dover Publicaions, 1962), 1:250.
6Ibid ., 1:242-50.
7 Ibid ., 2: 291.
 MOZART'S OBOE QUARTET, K. 370 49

Example 12. Mozart, Sonata, K. 310, IV,

Background graph.

A.
I

(~ • .-
<

I •

form is the addition of a development section in place of

the independent second episode. 8 Charles Rosen, however,
insists that:

the sonata rondo was not a fixed form for Mozart:

it may have a development section, or a sub-
dominant episode, or both-or neither: the finale
of the Sinfonie Concertante for Violin and Viola,
K. 364, of 1779 is clearly a rondo in character
with no development and no central episode in the
subdominant or in any other key, but the re-
capitulation does begin in the subdominant. 9

Rosen regards the sonata rondo form as "an idiosyncratic

version" of what he terms "finale sonata form." It is
"perhaps the most efficient pattern evolved to that end." He
continues,

It is not the result of blending two independent

preexisting forms, but the stylistic inflection
and transformation of one preexistent form, the
rondo, remarkable for the aptness with which it
fulfilled the late eighteenth century's require-
ments for a concluding movement. 10

8Douglass M. Green, Form in Tonal Music (New York: Holt,

Rinehart & Winston, 1965), p. 223.
9Charles Rosen, Sonata Forms (New York: W. W. Norton &
Co., 1980), p. 121.
50 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW

Rosen describes the requirements satisfied by the sonata

rondo that make it the most efficient type of sonata finale
form.

What is essential is a squareness and clarity of

rhythm and phrasing, and generally an emphasis on
the subdominant as well as a broad use of the
tonic. • The first theme is generally rounded
off by a full cadence on the tonic. ll

There seems to be no question that the Mozart K. 370

finale is indeed a sonata rondo form. Not only does it con-
tain developmental elements in the central episode, b~t the
section begins in the subdominant, which supports 4, the
first descending note in the interruption pattern. The
presence of the interruption itself in the central section
further emphasizes the mutation of rondo form towards sonata
form. Finally, the concluding AB section without the ex-
pected final A section takes on the character of a sonata
recapitulation.
The question naturally arises whether the interruption
can be found in other sonata rondo forms. Is it possible
that it might be a characteristic structural feature of this
variable, mutant form? A brief look at the corresponding
second episode in the finale of Mozart's Piano Sonata, K.
333, dispels this notion. The finale is a rather complex
sonata rondo form in which the central episode contains both
new material as well as development of previous themes. In
the movement there is no clear descent from the first
structural pitch f2 (5) down to an interruption at the ar-
rival of the dominant at m. 103, the point that marks the
beginning of the retransition back to the third statement of
the A section (m. 112). It seems that the interruption in
the K. 370 rondo is a feature peculiar to the piece, and
does not represent a general principle that applies to other
sonata rondo forms. Nevertheless, in analyzing the finale
of the Oboe Quartet the presence of the interruption
certainly aids in the decision to regard the form as sonata
rondo rather than simple rondo. Although the relationship
between the underlying structure of a piece as revealed by
Schenkerian analysis and its conventional formal structure
has yet to be fully defined, there seems to be a close cor-
relation between them in this delightful Mozart finale.

10Ibid., p. 126.
llIbid., p. 118.