The six string quartets dedicated to his friend Joseph Haydn represent a turning point in Mozart' compositional development. In addition to providing a synopsis of each quartet, this book examines the music in relation to Mozart's earlier quartets, considers the genesis of the six Haydn quartets through examination of the autograph revisions and looks at contemporary 18th-century analytical models. The author also charts the reception of the quartets, drawing upon a broad range of sources: Mozart's letters and diary entries, early newspaper reports, harmony/compositional textbooks, contemporary criticism and early biographies