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Beethoven always held Mozart before him as an example of how not to do it. Beethoven was 21 when Mozart died penniless at age 35, and he never forgot that. Beethoven wanted to die in his own bed at a ripe old age, wealthy, with a belly full of fine wine – and his gestüffenpoken in the mouth of a lady of the evening.

One of the popular tunes of the day came from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, a little ditty titled “Beat Me, Beat Me, Good Masetto”. Mozart must have giggled obscenely when he wrote that number. As a tip of the hat to Mozart, Beethoven wrote a slow movement for his Quartet for Piano and Strings in E-flat, Op. 16 that quotes the opening notes of this aria. Beethoven takes it in a different direction, but the homage is clear.

The movement is in B-flat and marked andante cantabile, which means a walking pace and a singing style. The format is a kind of modified ternary: A-B-A-B-A. It’s absolutely gorgeous.

Beethoven: Piano Quartet in E-flat, Op. 16, second movement