Completed in 1790 and published posthumously in 1793, K.593 was one of Mozart s final chamber works. The fifth of Mozart s viola quintets, K.593 is inscribed composed for an Italian amateur, whom Mozart s widow Constanze though to be Johann Tost, an enthusiastic commissioner of chamber music. The brilliance of the solo writing is more remarkable in K.593 than in the previous quintets. All instruments move more independently than in the earlier works, especially the second viola and the cello. Each instrument is often pitted against the other four in the frequent alternations of solo and ensemble sections.
Numerous passages demand bright, sonorous virtuosity.
Formal novelties abound in the opening movement the Larghetto introduction returns in the middle of the movement and the primary theme of the Allegro also functions as a coda. The stately Adagio and the rhythmically intricate Menuetto are related thematically since each exploits a scheme of descending thirds. The finale, a freely structured rondo, allows each instrument to participate in the brilliant display of fugal virtuosity. Borodin, together with Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakoff, was part of the Russian Five, a nationalistic school that sought to eliminate foreign influences from concert programs and to introduce a new style based on indigenous folksongs, dances, and legends. Understandably, The Five reacted with horror to the report that Borodin was working on a string quartet, formally an anathema to the group.